Rairyuu no Hikari
by BlueScreen26
Summary: Early in his life, Naruto was given power over lightning. But more than power, he received a motto, a way to live : "Remember, boy, only strength matter. As long as you have it, you're holding your fate in your own hands." With these words in minds, Naruto will pursue his goal : to be Hokage. And he'll crush everyone who stand in his way... [CANCELLED]
1. Chapter 1

**So here it is ! A Naruto fic with a Naturo that has the same temperament and powers as the evil Laxus. I had this idea when I watched Nastu&amp;Gajeel vs Laxus. Naruto and him have the same hair color and I then tought that with all the crap Naruto has been through, it would make sense if he was a super-angry kind of guy.**

**Before you start reading, a few precisions : This will not be a harem fic, nor a NarutoxRandomKonohaGirl. I want to be a little more original. You'll see ;) (no yaoi) All you need to know is that there will be a pairing later on the story.**

**Also, it's gonna follow the canon until the end of the Chuunin exams.**

**Last thing : I'm french, so, if there's a few weird sentences, tell me eventually but don't pay it too much mind. In theory, there will be not that much.**

**Okay, then, here we go !**

**Disclaimer : Don't own Naruto or the barely mentionned Fairy Tail character.**

* * *

Not far from the outside walls of Konoha, at the beginning of the woods, were a young child sitting alone on the dust, his face buried in his knees in a vain effort to stop the tears that were currently flowing on his cheeks. This boy name was Uzumaki Naruto and once again, he was at loss with the villagers behaviour toward him.

_Why, _he toughts, _why everyone hates me ? What did I do ? What can't anyone love me ?_

He snorted akwardly, half-choking himself with snot and coughed a little. He spared a panic glance around him, afraid of the idea of catching someone attention. He had barely avoided his last beating and he certainly didn't want it to happen again.

He was about to go back to his initial position when the sound of very _close _footsteps startled him. He got up quicly but alas, he was barely on his feet before a strong hand caught his shoulder from behind, making him jump out of his skin. He quickly recovered and turned around to identify his potential agressor.

It was a very tall man with blond air like himself and a cool scar (in his opinion) streaking his right eye. He wore a pair of dark pants, a purple shirt and a long green coat with grey fur at the border of it. He had a malicious grin on his lips, like he knew you were out of shuriken and was about to throw one at you.

"You okay, kid ? You don't look so good."

Naruto took a prudent step back and answered with a trembling voice :

"W..Wh.. who are you ? Are you hear to beat me as well ?"

"Beat you ? Now why would I beat a little weakling like you ?"

"I'm not weak !" screamed Naruto at the top of his small lungs, overcoming his fear wich was making his gut hurt.

"Sure you are. Look at you, crying like a worthless trash !"

"Well I'm not some super tall scary guy like you, ok ?! I...I don't have anyone."

Tear were falling again and Naruto had to repress the urge to flee.

Clearly disgusted, the man catch Naruto by his shirt before bringing him to eye level, dissmissing the panicked little boy face and pushing his forehead against his.

"So what ? The more you suffer, the stonger you become. If someone comes at you with his fists, come back latter with a bat. If he comes at you with a bat, come back with a sword, and if he come with a sword, come back WITH A FUCKING ARMY IF YOU HAVE TO !"

"B...but they're adults ! Many of theme ! And I'm alone !"

At this remark, the man seemed to calm himself. He even put him on the ground.

"Is that so ? Then tell me : are you gonna give up ? Are you gonna let them have their way ?"

"I...I don't have much of a choice."

"What if you had one ? What would you do if you had the power to fight back ?"

"I...I'd crush them ! I'd show them how strong I am so that they acknowledge me, so that they are scared !"

The man seemed a littre stratled at that, but then a cruel smile made his way to his face and he began to laugh hysterically before stopping abruptely.

"Good answer, kiddo. I like you ! How about that : I'll give you something to make you super strong, if you're able to endure the pain of the process. And believe me, it hurts a lot."

Naruto stared at the guy wide eyed. He was basically offering him what he always wanted. How many times had he dreamed about a little pay back from the village ? How many time had he wished he could reduce the owners of those hateful glare to ashes ? He woulnd't have an other occasion like this one.

"I don't care if it's hurt !" He screamed. "I'll do it !"

"Good" The man sipmly said. Then, faster than Naruto could react. He put out a small yellow orb and shoved it inside Naruto's gut like there were no shirt nor skin or flesh to stop it.

It was like his all body was on fire. Every one of his nerves were screaming in pain. Naruto began to yell loud enough to reduce his vocal cords to shreds. With what seemed like hours, he felt his muscles shifting, transforming. _Hardening. _It was unbeareble. And then, just like that, it stopped. Naruto stayed still a couple of minutes, trying to overcome the traumatism he just experienced. Never in his young life he was _that_ hurt. He suddenly sat up and looked aroun. The man was still here, his creepy grin on his face.

"I see it's done" He said.

"Wh... what did you do ?" asked Naruto while he tried to catch his breath.

"I gave you a special power. I think you're calling it kekkei genkai around here, yes ?"

"You... you _gave me _a kekkei genkai ? How ? What does it do ?"

"How, is my secret" he said while crossing his arms. "As for what it does, well, let's just say you're gonna be very good with Raiton Jutsu. Good enough so you will not even need any hand seal. Oh, and it's not genetic, so it can't be transfered to your children."

"Raiton ? Handseal ?" asked Naruto, confused.

"It's a ninja thing" said the guy while pinching the bridge of his nose, exasperated "You'll be able to manipulate lightning at will".

"Awesome ! So... will you teach me ?"

"Of course not ! I'll leave now !"

"What ? B..but-" Stuttered Naruto. He felt like crying again.

"Look ! You have to figure it out on your on. Can you call yourself strong if you need others to do things for you ? Mmmh ?"

That...actually made sense. But how could he train by himself ? He knew nothing about ninja skills. And just like the man said, he would not ask for help. That would be weak.

_What to do, what to do..._

He was so deep in toughs that he barely registered the tall man leaving without a word.

"Hum... thank you !"

"Whatever" said the guy. He waved his and without turning back and spoke : "Remember : only strengh can get you what you want." And with that last advice, just like that, he vanished with a "zapp" sound, leaving behind a tiny spark of electrecity which disappered immediately.

Unknown to him, Naruto would take the maxim at heart, in such a level that it would influence the Elemental Nations as a all.

Without wasting any time. Naruto tried to use his new power but was barely able to produce anything at all. He fealt it, tough. That was a start. A disapointing start, but a start nonethless. Still, that was a problem. How to make progress without any help at all ? Sure he could try and try again but the young boy had the feeling that wouldn't help him much. Plus, what if he did something wrong without knowing ?

There was a solution, tough : Books. But he sucked at reading and hated it with a passion. Alas, there wasn't much of a choice. He would have to go to the library. He wasn't exactly looking forward to it.

Shaking himself, he jumped to his feet and made a bee line to the main gate of Konoha. The two idiots ninja guards were still here, despite the fact that it was almost night time. Naruto went on all four so that his high didn't reach the end of the desk of the open sentry box. Slowly, he made his way toward the street. This was the difficult part, but he always managed to succeed in the past. This day was no different and once he was done, he quickly made his way to his apartment, forgetting about his idea of eating at Ichiraku Ramen.

Night was never safe for Naruto. Civilians and ninjas alike had a stronger tendencies to attack him once their stomach were full of cheap saké. He stopped counting how many times some random drunk gave chase after him.

He turn in a dark alley, climbed a fence and quickly crossed the street on which he resulted. He climbed the stairs of his building, attentive to the slightest noise. He was ambush once at his very front door and he didn't want it to happen again. He opened and close drapidly and went to bed without changing clothes. He didn't have much spare and was extremelly tired. In a matter of seconds, he fell asleep.

* * *

The next day, Naruto woke up at almost nine, which was awfully early for him. He would have slept a little longer, but he knew that by going to the library in the morning, there would be less people, which meant less chances to be kicked out.

He shivered slightly when his naked feet touch the cold floor but got up nonethless. He then went straight to the library, not even stopping to grab something to eat. He didn't want to spend more time outside than what was necessary. After all, troubles always started the moment he passed his front door.

Outside in the streets, the only people awake were ninjas and merchants. There were a few civilian here and there but that was all. With that few people, Naruto didn't need to make any careful detour and he reached the library in ten minutes. He just hoped the receptionist wouldn't make a fuss about him borrowing a bunch of books.

He pushed the door and entered. The inside was made of dark expensive looking wood. Almost eveything was made of this. The desks, the walls, the roof. It gave a heavy and austere atmosphere, which was strenghtened by the deep silence. In truth, Naruto felt a little intimidated, but also strangely at peace. It was oddly comforting. He passed a very old woman at the front desk who seemed to didn't even notice him, which was probably the case considering she looked half-blind at best. Her pupils had an unhealthy white color.

Taking advantage of that fact Naruto ventured into the shelves. There had to be thousands of books ! And he could barely read ! He suddenly become aware of the amount of work that his self imposed studies would take. Repressing a sigh, he strated to study the titles, trying to find some basic themes. He was tempted to back down, but that would be betraying his new motto. Strengh was everything, and he would read those books, no matter the time it would take ! With a determined frown, he opened a book about chakra theory.

To say that he struggled would be an understatement. He didn't know the meaning of half the kanji that were there. Maybe he aimed to high ? He didn't even understand what was the book about. And of course that was a problem. In addition to that, it was almost impossible to solve, because the only self-teaching methods he knew were books.

While thinking, he made his way randomly between the shelfs. He finally came upon the kids section. Maybe he should start reading these. That was a little humiliating to read about stupid fairy tales, but his crappy reading skills were a major concern that he had to overcome if he wanted to become strong. So, with a little blush on his face, he started his work.

* * *

Four hours passed, and he had barely read two thin childish books. It was disapointing. The only positive thing was that he came across a lot of kanji he didn't know which, once replaced in their context, made actually sense. That was the only reason he kept going. From time to time, he received a glare from a parent. But unlike him, they didn't stay, so he ignored it.

It was his stomach that made him registered the amount of time he spent on his seat. Stretching while getting up, he went outside and made a bee line to Ichiraku Ramen. It was the middle of the afternoon, so there wasn't anyone on the stools. Naruto's smile brightened when he spotted Ayame behind the counter.

"Hi, nee-chan !"

"Naruto ? Where were you ? We almost thought you had an accident when you never showed up yesterday !" she joked.

"Sorry" answered Naruto while rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "I got chased by some idiots and I spent my day in the woods."

Ayame smiled sadly and nodded her head. She never understood the hatred of the majority of Konoha toward the little sunshine that was Naruto. Sure, he had the Kyuubi inside of him, but it was obvious he wasn't influence by it. He never said or did anything mean.

_Well, except a large amount of pranks,_ she tought with a sweet drop.

"Ho, isn't that Naruto !" said the warm voice of Teuchi, emerging from the kitchen.

"Are you ready, Ojii-san ? I'm super-hungry today, so I'll eat a lot !"

"Is that so ? Then what would it be ?"

"Two of each ! And don't say that's too much ! You know I can do it !"

"Fine then, I'll start to prepare your food." He chuckled for himself and reopened the back door to go to the kitchen.

"Ummm... Ojii-san ?"

"What is it ?" Teuchi asked, turning around. Naruto was blushing a little and was avoiding his gave.

"Could you... could you put vegetables this time ?"

Teuchi jaw hit the floor while Ayame seemed more than a little frightened. She point at Naruto with a shaky finger, her voice trembling comically.

"Wh... Who are you, and what did you do to Naruto ?"

_Did the Kyuubi took over ? Is he falling for the dark side of the food ?_ She asked herself, panicked.

"Don't mock me, nee-chaaan!" Naruto whined. "It took a lot of me to ask that !"

She was at a loss of words, so Teuchi chose to ask : "Why would you want something that you hate, Naruto ?" He felt a little concerned. Did the kid had a fever or something ? Maybe he ate a mushroom he found funny in the woods and now he was hallucinating...

"Well, I decided I wanted to be super-strong. Stronger than the Old Man, even ! But to do that, I need to eat plenty of wierd tasting food, right ?"

"Well... that's true, but why now ? You want to be Hokage for as long as I can remember !"

Naruto hesitated. Did he want someone to know about his meeting with the blond guy ? Oh well, he just had to shut up about the kekkei genkai part, and that was it, right ?

"It's because I met this super-tall, super-scary guy ! He said that if I become strong, people will stop being mean to me !"

"I see... Yosh ! Then I'll put almost only vegetables in your food" Proclaimed Teuchi with a mischievous smile.

"Hey ! I meant just a little, damn it !"

"Language !" Exclaimed Ayame. And with the famous monstruous strengh of a pissed off anime female, she hit Naruto at the top of the head.

"But nee-chaaan !"

"No but ! For every bad words you'll get one more vegetable !"

Naruto immediately shut up, making Teuchi laughing. He went to his kitchen and started making the gargantuan meal. Meanwhile, Ayame asked Naruto about his day. When she learned that Naruto spent his time at the library, she asked him if it was because of his plan to become strong too.

"Yeah, exactly ! I figured I have to be smart to make awesome trap and super-cool jutsu, right ?"

Ayame said nothing, looking oddly at Naruto. Then she lashed out at him and hugged the living daylight out of him while giggling.

"Can't... breath..." stuttered Naruto.

"My little Naru-chan is growing up" she half-cried, completely ignoring him.

She finally let go and Naruto took a deep delicious breath of fresh air before yelling : "Hey ! What was that for ?!"

"Nothing" she said, smiling innocently.

"Girls are so weird", he complained before receiving an other hit on the head.

He was about to protest when to heavenly smell of ramen reached his nostrils. Teuchi put the bowl in front of him and with a loud "Itadakimasu", he dug in. He smiled when he felt the taste on his tong. His life was hard, but sometimes, just sometimes, it was worth living it.

* * *

Sarutobi Hiruzen, sandaime Hokage, was worrying a little. Three weeks ago, an other mob gave chase to young Naruto and while his AnBu were dispatching said mob, the child disappeared for four hours. Sadly, it wasn't that uncommon, but something was different this time. Since the event, every time he watched his cristal bowl, Naruto was at the library. For someone like him, it was a huge change of behaviour.

_Did something happened ? _Wondered the old man. _Either way there isn't much I can do. It's not like I can kick him out of the library, I'm not the council._

The Hokage sighed deeply. If he was completely honest, that wasn't what was truly made him concerned. Reading definitly weren't a problem in itself. The fact that it was _Naruto_ was. With the amount of books he read, in a few years, he would probably find something about the sealing art, which would be a problem to say the least.

The obvious solution would be to take those books to the secret library for ninja only, but it was a temporary solution. Naruto would be a ninja after all.

_Bah, he'll receive his haitate in ten years. There's time. Hopefully, he will be mature enough to hear the truth. I'm sure he will be. He's the son of those two, after all..._

"AnBu !" He called.

A ninja with dark clothes and a white weasel mask appeared in front of him, kneeling respectfully, his right fist steadily put on the floor.

"Go to the library where Naruto spend his time and remove all books with detailed description on sealing"

"Hai" replied the masked ninja before desapearing with a body flicker.

* * *

**There ! The genesis of angry Naruto ! What did you think guys ? Enjoyed it ? Tell me ! Didn't like it ? Tell me why so I can do better ! Until next time !**

**BlueScreen**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here we are, chapter 2 ! This time, you'll see the unstable, angry Naruto that I hope you'll love. Enjoy !**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

* * *

_**Six years later...**_

A fist violently met Naruto's face. He completely ignored the pain and with a savage grin, headbutted his opponent, noisily breaking his nose. Naruto took a step back while the other collapsed on his butt, holding his bleeding nose while swearing profusely.

"How pathetic ! And your calling yourself a genin !" laughed Naruto.

True to his word, there was a shining haitate tied to the teen forehead. He was a newly appointed ninja of sixteen years old who thought it was a good idea to look down on the village paria. He obviously forgot to consider the fact that recently, said pariah started to bite back. Hard. He couldn't believe that a twelve years old nobody could gave him that much trouble but his bloody nose was showing the truth.

While pinching his nose bridge in a desperate attempt to stop the bleeding, he looked up to gauge his opponent. He sure changed a lot from the last time he saw him. Gone was the 'kill-me-now' orange jump suit. Now, he was wearing black pants and a deep purple shirt with long sleeves. His trademark stupid grin disappeared as well, replaced by a cruel smirk full of arrogance and barely contained violence. His hair, while still spiky were all brush back, pointing a little upward, with a few strand still falling on his forehead, making his face more visible, like a challenge for the other to say something.

The young genin tried to get up but the moment he tried that, he received a knee in the face, doubling the pain he was in. He fell on his back and went into a foetal position, hugging his knees. This was revealed to be a good choice because shortly after that, a foot collied violently with his back making him wince in pain.

"You're a disgrace ! A lame excuse for a shinobi !" chuckled Naruto while kicking the boy again and again.

He heard a loud crack which made him laughing hystericly, his deep voice reverbering on the walls of the alley he was in. He stomped on a knee and an other crack, this one louder, sounded. He was about to go for the other knee when he heard two people landing behind him.

"You guys always appear when the real fun beggin" Naruto sighed.

He turned around and his eyes met two shadow figures, both of them wearing a white animal mask. The one on the left, a woman considering the chest and the small build passed him without saying anything and kneeled to check on the injured genin.

"Well ?" asked her counterpart, a man with a tiger mask.

"Three broken ribs, and the nose and the right knee are broken as well" she answered with a professional tone, even tough a trained ear could discern disaprobation in her voice.

"Oi ! Don't ignore me !" complained Naruto playfully.

"Uzumaki, you are to come with me to meet the Hokage" said Tiger with a monotone voice.

"Uh, an other lecture from the old man, huh ? What a surprise !" laughed the blond, pulling his hands on his pocket. He was completely relaxed despise the fact that he assaulted a Konoha nin. "All right then, lead the way !"

He left the alley, without waiting for an answer. He knew the AnBu would follow him anyway. When a heard the quiet footsteps of his 'babysitter' he slowed his pace only to piss off the AnBu who was used to running on the roofs, unseen. In his opinion, forcing an AnBu to walk in plain sight in front of everyone was hilarious.

He started whistling happily, smirking at the glare that were sent his way. Every time his eyes met some of the vilager's, they were all looking down. They learned pretty quickly to not piss him off too much. They were too scared to take a good beating otherwise.

_And they don't even know about my raiton ability. I can't wait to see there face when they'll understand how powerfull I really am._

In six years, Naruto learned a lot about his _kekkai genkai. _The 'Tall-Guy' had said that he would be able to manipulate lightning freely, and true to his word, he could now produce it within any part of his body. It could take any form he wanted and he could even varied the intensity of the current if he wanted to.

What 'Tall-Guy' didn't tell him, though, was that there were other changes over his body. First, his senses, particulary his smell, were considerably more strong. Even a good hundred meters from his last victim, he could sense the strong smell of blood that he was radiating.

The other thing was that his skin was much harder. It couldn't block a sword or a stab motion from a kunai, but a thrown shiruken barely scratched him. The punches of other didn't phase him too much too. His incisive were a little sharper and longer too. Nothing obvious, but if one was looking it was noticeable.

The last change was a huge problem in his opinion. His raiton affinity was so strong that there was no place within his chakra for any other element. That was his theory anyway. It pissed him off to no end to think that he could never use one those cool fireball jutsu. Granted, his lightning was much stronger but still, that took out a lot of versatility.

His AnBu escort, who took the lead, stopped abruptly. Naruto looked up and saw they had arrived. They went in, climbed the stairs, and passed the Hokage's secretary without a word. She just threw the AnBu a knowing look and a disaprobing one to Naruto that he ignored.

Tiger entered without knocking, went to desk where the Sandaime was sitting and kneeled. Said old man raised an eyebrow at the entry but groaned in understanding when Naruto followed. His crossed his fingers under his nose in a thinking pose and ordered with a stern voice : "Report !"

"Hai, we were surveilling Uzumaki Naruto this morning when we briefly lost him. When we found his tracks again, he was beating genin Hidetora who was on the ground trying to protect himself. Uzumaki accepted to come with us willingly."

The Hokage sighed deeply and turn his eyes to Naruto. How can someone look so much like his father and be so different. Granted, he could take from his mother character; But while her violence was kind of funny, Naruto's was not. He clearly wanted to hurt his opponent, badly. He caught him doing it with his crystal bowl once and the looked of perverted glee that was on the boy face while he beat his opponent to a pulp shocked him. But then again, it wasn't much surprising that he turned like this with a life like his. He had no friend, no one to talk. And the majority of the village wanted to kill him and would if they could get away with it. They certainly tried their best. But then the boy started changing, he passed a lot a time to the library, and the Hokage remembered thinking maybe it was safer here. But then, a couple of years after that, Naruto started to pick fights with random people. At first, he tought it was just a childish way to release his anger. But then, Naruto started fighting bigger and older opponent and the wound he inflicted to others were starting to get serious.

The Sandaime was worrying, but he knew there wasn't much he could do. If he were to threw Naruto in jail for a few month to teach him some manners, Danzo would try to take him and train him. The civilian council, for its part, was screaming for the boy's blood at every single reunion. Without result obviously. It saddened him, but Jinchuuriki were powerful soldiers and couldn't go to waste. Every time the civilians was demanding execution, the ninja council overruled them.

"Naruto, what am I going to do with you ?" Asked the Hokage.

"Ah, make it quick old man, we both know what'll happened. You give me a boring lecture, I don't care, you lecture me more, I still don't care, you let me go. There ! Over now ?" He spoke with an annoyed voice.

Hiruzen frowned and finally asked : "Can I know at least why you're persisting doing it ? The villagers didn't like you from the start and you're not going a good job to improve their opinion."

"I don't care about the opinions of a bunch of trash, old man" Naruto said with a sharp laugh. "But fine, I'll humor you. I'm doing this because I have the power to do so."

"What do you mean ?" Inquired Hiruzen. He didn't like where this was going one bit.

"It's something life taught me" said Naruto with a wicked smile, "you see, the villagers didn't like me. They had the power to torment me, and they did. But now, **I** have the power. So it's only natural than I return the favor. And you know what ? I understand why they did it. I feel wonderful beating these trash to a pulp !"

That was only half the truth. He fought genin and strong looking civlian to train and get physically stronger, but the old man didn't need to know that. He certainly didn't want the civilian to learn that he was trying to get stronger. They were already annoying enough.

Hearing the boy's words, Hiruzen felt a little sick. '_What have you become, Naruto ? What would Minato say if he saw you ?' _He felt a little angry toward the villagers. Would they have been a little more tolerant, this Naruto wouldn't even exist.

"Oy, oy, don't make that face, old man ! If anything, I'm making you a favor there !" Naruto laughed.

"How so ?" asked the Hokage, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, if one of your genin got so easily trashed by an academy student, then you know he's not worth your time." answered Naruto like it was obvious.

"This is a serious matter, Naruto !"

"Oh, but I'm serious" said Naruto with a calm cold voice. "Tell you what ! I'll stop randomly beating those morons if you tell me why they're hating me in the first place !" His voice was cheerfull now, like he was telling a good joke to his pal.

The Hokage looked to the blond with a guilty face but stayed silent.

"Figured. Well, if that's all, I'll go now ! See ya', old man !"

He turned his back, passed the AnBu who was still kneeling, opened the door but stayed on the entrace. He half-turned his face, showing his profile, and locked his eye with the Hokage.

"Don't get too used to that seat, old man. One day, I'll take it from you. One day, I'll be so strong no one will look down on me, ever !"

And with that, he left.

The Sandaime looked terribly sad. In this moment, he was no 'God of Shinobi', he was not 'The Professor', he was just a distressed grandfather. '_I'm sorry. I failed you Minato, Kushina. Naruto..._'

He shook himself. He had not the time to grieve. He was the Hokage and he had work to do.

"If I may, Hokage-sama" spoke Tiger.

"Go on".

"I have the psychologic evaluation of Uzumaki Naruto that you asked me."

"I'm listening" said the Sandaime with an interested look.

"This is only based on the observation of the boy behaviour, because he's constantly refusing any counceling. Firstly, he has enormous anger issue. While I know saying this is a bit of a understatement, you have to understand that anger is probably the only emotion he's capable of feeling right now, and even then, he's repressing it."

"He's not not doing a very good job, then." deadpanned the Hokage.

"Not really, but keep in mind that we have yet to see a real rage crysis, so his success is more relative than one would think."

"I see... what else ?"

"There's isn't much else to tell. Uzumaki is 'just' a big ball of nerve with a bit of a sadistic, but you already know that."

"Mmmh.. I hoped for something new"

"Forgive me Hokage-sama, if you so desire, I'll continue the evaluation in addition of the surveillance."

"No need. Like you said, there isn't much else to tell about Naruto, as sad as it sound. You may leave now."

"Hai" said the AnBu. And he vanished.

* * *

Once the door fully closed, Naruto smirked. He just loved messing with the old man. Every time he asked him to stop, he pulled his joker '_why-does-the-villagers-hates-me'._

'_Eh, works every time_' tought the blond.

Now that his 'early morning workout', has he call it,was done, he started walking towarrd the academy. The glares were more obvious, now that there was no visible AnBu next to him.

'_Trash. I'll make sure to teach them a lesson once I'm the Hokage.'_

That was the only thing that didn't change. He still wanted to be the head of the village. But his reasons were definitly different. He knew there was no way the villagers would respect or acknowledge him, not fully. But they could be dominated. They could fear him so much they wouldn't dare try anything funny. That was what he was aiming for. That was why he needed power so badly. And boy, did he had it. He had no idea what was that thing Tall-Guy put in his belly, but that was helping him a great deal in his quest.

* * *

He arrived at the academy portal just in time. The other students were already entering their classes. He went in the second year room and sat in the back. He put his elbow on the table and rest his head on his fist. He looked around him with a bored looked.

Everyone what carefully avoiding his gaze, with the exception of the Uchiha and the Inuzuka. The first refuse to back down, even tough he got his ass handed and each of their fight. Were he not pathetically weak, Naruto would respect that. The other, dog-breath, was simply stupid, at least in his opinion. He was an arrogant fool with almost no skill at all to support his claim of awesomeness. Maybe he thought he could beat him outside the academy ring, were ninjutsu and shirukenjutsu were not forbidden.

'_Well, he's dead wrong_' tought Naruto while looking to the other faces.

In his opinion, his class was utterly pathetic. The Akamichi boy was spending almost all his damn time eating. Now he understood it was for a better use of his clan technics, but was the sacrifice worth it ? With what he saw of the older Akimichi, it was not. Yeah, sure, they could hit much harder, but their weight made them slow. Unbelieveably slow. Which made them useless as long as they fought alone.

Then, there was the Akimichi's good pal, Shikamaru. The boy, Naruto noticed, was insanely smart, which would make him a powerfull ninja in the futur if not for his ridiculous lazyness. The blond couldn't understand this guy. If he were that intelligent himself, he'll probably be Hokage by now.

The last noticeable guy was Aburame Shino. He was the exception of the class. The guy was calm, logic, and was willing to learn. The perfect representation of a ninja. When Naruto learned that his all clan had this temperament, he didn't understand why everyone was making a fuss about the Uchiha and the Hyuuga.

Next, there was the girls. To say that they were a bunch a weakilings was a massive understatement. Naruto honestly didn't understand why they were still in the academy. They were weak physically, but more importantly, spiritually. They spent _all_ there time fawning over the Uchiha boy. The only one that was barely okay was Hyuuga Hinata, and that was saying something, because the girl was ridiculously shy and had absolutely no self-conficence. For some reason, she was blushing profusely every time her eyes crossed his. Naruto didn't quite know how to handle that kind of things. In fact, he would be more comfortable if she hated him like everyone else. If only he hadn't help her...

_**-Flashback-**_

_Naruto taking a little walk in the park after his morning training session when he heard a faint scream and a few louder laughs. He went closer to the noise, get through a thick bush and fell upon a strange scene. Three kids were surronding a little girl with a pair of pale pupiless eyes. Naruto immediately identified her as a member of the Hyuuga clan._

_His curiosity was satisfied, he was about to leave when one of the bully noticed him and spoke : "Well, well. Look at that guys, the freak came to save the princess !" The other two laughed automatically like good trained dogs._

_Naruto stopped in his tracks and turn around, totally pissed. His fist were already shaking. "The fuck did you called me, trash ?!" He asked, barely stopping himself to fried the moron to a crisp with his lightning._

_"You heard me ! You're a freak ! My mom and dad said so. Now go away, we have stuff to do" he snickered._

_He had barely finished his sentence when he received a punch to the face that thrown him on the ground. The other two boys gasped but quickly regained composure and entered the fight as well. Naruto smirked. More training for him, more beating to the trash._

* * *

_Hinata was scared. Kô left her for some urgent meeting with the clan elders and at this very moment three civilian kids appeared before her. They threw a few insult, nothing that Hinata wasn't used to. After all, her father biting comments were far worse. But then, they started to crack their knuckles and promised her a good beating. That was when she ran. Unfortunatly, they catched up quickly and now, she was alone and surrounded._

_"Nowhere to run, idiot !" snickered the leader. The other two laughed like hyena. "Now what to do with you..." he whispered in her ear._

_Hinata closed her eyes and waited for the pain. She waited, and waited, and waited. But nothing came. She slowly opened her eyes. The kids had turned their back on her and were eyeing a blond boy with black pants and a white t-shirt. His hair were slicked back with numerous spicky strands pointing backward, tough a few of them were falling down on his forehead. Curiously, he had absolutely no baby fat despite being around ten years old. Hinata was trained to decipher subtlelty of body language and this newcomer was displaying an aura of confidence, irony, and a lot of restrained anger. All in all, he was very handsome tought Hinata with a small blush._

_"Well, well. Look at that guys, the freak came to save the princess !" exclaimed the leader while the other were laughing._

_'_His he really here to help me' _thought the young with hope. She then noticed that the anger of the boy skyrocketed. The muscles of his jaw were visibly tightening and his fist were shaking._

_"The fuck did you call me, trash ?!" growled the boy with a surprinsgly deep voice._

_Hinata's eyes widened. He called the other one 'trash'. That was the insult her cousin Neji used all the time. In her mind, it was characteristic for strong fighters that had the tendencies to go overboard. She felt suddenly a little worried for the three bullies._

_"You heard me !" yelled the leader, "You're a freak ! My mom and dad said so. Now go away, we have stuff to do."_

_Hinata barely restrained herself to gasp. She knew she heard of him. He was Uzumaki Naruto ! Kô always told her to stay away from him in case she ever crossed him._

_But she didn't have time to think about it, as Naruto's fist collied with the mockering boy's face so hard he fell on the ground. She moaned when the other two thrown themsleves in the fight. He was going to get hurt, no matter how strong he was, it was three on one !_

_Naruto received a punch to the face and an other to the guts, but that didn't stopped him. He laughed widely and kneed the opponent on his right to the groin while blocking a punch from the other with his forearm. While his second victim fell with a silent gasp, he turned the the last boy standing, sidestepped a kick, and caught him by the throat. Then, with surprising strengh, he slammed him on a tree, knocking him out cold. That done, he turned around and kicked the shit ou of the other two, making sure they wouldn't stand up._

_Hinata just watched the display, stunned. He was so... strong ! He wasn't fast and precise like the members of her clan. He was... wild. That was the better term she knew that qualified him. It was like he knew what to do in the perfect time to do it._

_But what really impressed Hinata was that he smiled and laughed during the all fight. Sure, it was a little sadistic, but it was also the testimony of a very strong will. Something she wanted more than anything._

_The sound of footsteps broke her reflexion, she snaped her head up and saw that the boy, Naruto, was living._

_"A...Ano..."_

_Naruto stopped and half turned his head, his eyebrow raised : "Huh, you want something ?"_

_"Th...thank very much." she whispered shyly._

_"Think nothing of it" said Naruto with a wave of his hand. "I didn't do it for you. I just don't like it when someone weaker than me have the nerv to call me names."_

_He began to walk again when he stopped in his tracks and said : "Here's a piece of advice, though. You should get stronger if you don't want this to happen again."_

_"But I... I'm wea-"_

_"Sure you are, but I was too. You're the only one deciding your fate."_

_And with that, he left. When Kô returned later and saw the three kids on the ground, he asked what happened._

_"I... I was bullied by those three, b..but then the boy you told me to stay away from came and beat them."_

_Kô stayed silent for a while and slowly said : "I see..; Well that _boy _better not think the clan will thank him cause we're no-"_

_"A...Ano... He said he didn't do it for me."_

_"Wh-what ?" asked a perplexed Kô._

_"He said he doesn't like people badmouthing him when they are weaker than him."_

_Kô didn't answered to that, he just muttured to himself, but Hinata heard something that sound suspisciously like 'little bastard'. Kô then took his hands and said :"Come, Hinata-sama, we must go back to the compound"._

_All the way to her home, Hinata thought of her unwilling savior. 'I wish I had your strengh, Naruto-kun'. She then blushed profusely but her caretaker tought nothing of it. She was blushing a lot after all._

_**-Flashback end-**_

'That wouldn't have happened if I was controlling myself better' sighed Naruto inwardly. He stopped thinking of old memories when Iruka entered the room.

"Good morning, class ! Today is a special one ! We're gonna learn a new jutsu ! It's..."

Naruto raised his head, his interest picked.

"The Kawarimi no jutsu !"

Naruto facefault while most of the class was overjoyed. 'Come on, this jutsu is so low level it's in the public library ! Will I ever learn one fucking thing here or what ?'

"Follow me outside !" said Iruka with an enthousiastic tone.

"I knew I should have stayed home" cursed Naruto, following the other hands on his pocket. He just couldn't wait to be an appointed genin so he could stop dealing with this crap. Fortunately, he never heard of D-rank missions yet. Kami himself was a little concerned about when he'll learn about that...

* * *

**How was that ? Hope you liked it ! If not, tell me ! I can't wait to write about the Wave Arc, or the Chuunin exam Arc. That'll be so cool !**

**Later, folks !**

**BlueScreen**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey, everyone ! I'm back ! Sorry for the wait, but this chapter is actually much longer than the others. So here it is ! Enjoy !**

* * *

_**Four years later**_

Naruto was deep in thoughts. Iruka's voice and the occasionals whispers from his fellow students weren't reaching him. He was very close to discover the reason why the villagers hated him with a passion, he was sure of it. First, there was the way people called him : 'demon brat', 'freak', 'monster'. It had always something to do with monstruosity. This wasn't a coincidence, something he had done in the past was the cause of this. Just like Orichimaru's treachery labeled him as a 'traitor', something he did labeled him as 'demon'. But what ? As far as he knew, he never did something so repulsive that people would outcast him for as long as he could remember. That was an other thing that made him perplexed. He had always been the pariah, which meant whatever he did had something to do with his birth or an event very close to it.

Those facts brought him to a conclusion : his secret was about the Kyuubi. It was the only 'demonic event' that was remotly close to his birth. In fact, he was born the very same day of the Kyuubi attack. Maybe the villagers hated him because he was reminding them of that night ? No, the other facts didn't had up. If it was just this, he wouldn't have AnBu tailing him all the time and the Hokage would have put him out of the academy because of his anger issues. Why didn't he did just that ? The only answer Naruto could come up with was that he was an asset the old man couldn't afford to waste, but how was that possible ? Until his meeting with 'Tall-Guy', he was extremely weak. Was it a bloodline he had yet to awaken ? No, he was an orphan, a nobody, beside, no one would hate him for having a bloodline, quite the contrary, in fact. One just had to take a look at the Uchiha to know that.

Naruto had to admit, he was at loss. The only thing he knew for sure was that he was somehow an asset to the village (an military asset, no doubt) and that it had something to do with the Kyuubi. But the beast was supposed to be dead, so he didn't understand the link.

His reflexion was broken by the ringing of a bell. The lesson was over.

"All right, class !" yelled Iruka to cover the noise of the student leaving. "Remember to practice your three jutsu for tomorrow ! Half of your evaluation will rely on this !" Almost everyone ignored him and was busy chatting excitedly with others. He didn't bother using his big head jutsu, they were leaving too fast.

Naruto was the first outside. Now that he was taller than most adults in Konoha, he could get through a crowd pretty easily. He started walking without thinking about his destination. He had two choice, both with advantages and inconvenients. First, he could purposely fail the acadamy exam tomorrow. If he was made ninja anyway, that would prove his theory about being a military asset. The problem was that the truth would stay hidden, he would just have a very solid lead. And more importantly, he was risking living an other year in this stupid hell hole.

The other solution was more risky but would be more rewarding. He just had to grab a random civilian and make him talk since he would know something for sure. The problem was that he would have to kill him. The thought didn't disturb him at all, it was just that if he get caught, military asset or not, he would be in deep shit.

'_Fuck it, I'll just have to be careful. Beside, it'll be a nice little payback_' thought Naruto. And with this in mind he started to plan.

* * *

It was close to midnight. The AnBu were still tailing him, but with all these years of secret training, Naruto knew how to leave them behind. He walked deleberatly slowly, turned a corner and there, just before an AnBu leaped to another roof to get a better view, he used his power.

Lightning nature started overcoming his body and suddenly, all that Naruto was was pure electricity. With a speed far greater than shunshin he took of. His perceptions were strange in this state, like the world around him had stopped moving. It felt like he could running around a hundred time around the village and no one would ever notice. Around him, people were rooted on the spot. He slalomed through them like they weren't even there. The feeling of omnipotence was almost intoxicating him. He could take a kunai and cut their throat right here and there if he wanted to.

Naruto shook himself. Now wasn't the time to go all out and show these fools the price for the the traitement he received.

'_Well, except for one_' thought Naruto while turning into an alley. There, he found what he was looking for. A lonely civilian, carrying grocceries, his mouth frozen into a whistling gesture. The blond smirked and formed an 'arm' of lightning within himself and extended it wide. When he passed next to the villager, the 'arm' coiled up itself around him. His target captured, Naruto took of high into the sky, looked around and spotted the deserted warehouse he found earlier this day. In the blink of an eye, he was inside. He cancelled his technique and threw the civilian on the floor, making a big cloud of dust.

'_I just love my __**Thunder Step**_' thought Naruto with a smirk. He waited for the cloud of dust to clear itself and then smiled widely when the civilian noticed his presence.

"You !" snarled the man with hatred. "What do you want demon ? How am I here ?"

"How is my prized secret, as for what I want, well that's simple, really : Why are you calling me a demon ?"

"As if you didn't know that" snorted the man while taking a few steps back. "There isn't a day when you're not causing trouble."

"Aww, you wound me, trash. I can call you trash, right ?" asked Naruto with a fake pleasant tone. "You know very well there is something else. How could I have caused trouble as a baby, mmh ?"

The back of the man hit the wall and he snickered : "So the freak is starting to suspect something, mmh ? Well screw you, I'm not gonna tell you !"

Naruto didn't reply, he just crossed his arm and smile playfully. He watched silently the man in front of him. His grey hairs, his fat belly, his gnarled hands. He then raised an eyebrow and just like that, lightning erupt from the floor and striked the man.

First, he screamed, then, he fell heavily on the floor and his body started to convulse. Naruto walked closer, his eyebrow still raised with interest. It was the first time he used his power on a living target. The screams were delightful.

'_Nice little payback indeed_' mused the blond. He suddenly stopped the flow of electricity and watched the body of the man collapse on itself. It was still producing a few spark here and there and even some smoke.

Naruto bent down, caught the man by the front of his shirt and slammed him on the wall, causing him to grunt. "So, feeling like talking ?" the blond asked conversationaly.

"Screw... you..." groaned the man weakly.

"Suit yourself." shrugged Naruto as he sent a stronger dose. He kept the man in the air and watched the man twitched violently. He winced a little when his screams started to increase and then threw the man once again when it was completely insufferable. His sensitive hearing wasn't always an advantage. The villager stayed on the floor, his body all numb. He was letting out very labored breath.

"You should talk, you know. I think the next discharge might actually kill you. After all, I'm not very good at holding back."

"Go ahead" stuttered the man. "I'll be dead if I talk too, anyway."

"Now you've got me interested" said Naruto as took a step closer "are you saying you'll be executed if you spill the beans ?"

"... yes."

"So it really is a military secret, huh. Interesting. But you should be more concerned about the immediate threat. Talk or I swear I'll punch your face until it's just a giant messy steak !" yelled Naruto. He was starting to lose his temper, now. He was cold, he wanted to go to sleep, and this guy just wasn't fucking talking !

"..."

"All right then, you asked for it." Naruto caught the villager by the throat and started to punch him heavily. First, he cracked the nose, then, he punched the ribcage twice, shattering a good third of it. He then slammed the man on the ground, put his left forearm on his throat and with his other hand, put out a kunai and brought it a few millimetters from his eye.

"You know, no one wants to sell me some decent knives, so I have to pick the one that people forgot on the training grounds. They're old and rusty, and I doubt it'll be a very pleasant experience to have it shoved in there. If you insist, I'll do it. And then it'll be the other one, and then I'll cut your phalanx one by one. I'll let you here, bleeding to death." Naruto got his face closer and then whispered in the now terrified man's ear : "Tell me, would your execution be this painful ? I somehow doubt that."

The man eyes widened as Naruto's smile transformed itself into a predatory grin. "You truly are... a monster, kitsune, even... in this form" commented the man as his breath were getting weaker and weaker.

"Kitsune ?" repeated Naruto with perplexity.

"Yes... sixteen years ago, the Kyuubi attacked the village... but... he didn't die. Yondaime-sama did his best, but he... couldn't kill it. So... he did the next best thing he could. He sealed it... into a child... you. The San... Sandaime found you that night. We thought he would do his duty, that he would... kill the damn fox. But... he didn't. He said... that you were his jailer, not... the Kyuubi itself. That you were... a hero. Damn him ! So, he made a law. If any of us were to... tell the younger generation, we would be... executed. He called it... an S class secret."

To say that Naruto wasn't expecting it was an understatement. He knew the secret would be big but not this big ! He got up and took a few steps back, stunned. '_Wait a minute_' he thought, '_there is some incoherency'._

"Why would the Hokage hide it from _me_, then ? What's the point ? If I knew the truth sooner I would be a better military asset by now."

When he heard this, the man actually cackled evilly. "Sandaime wanted you to have... a normal childhood. Ah ! As if we'd let... you have one after what you did to... us."

Naruto stood there, too stunned to answer. '_So that's it, huh_' he thought. His emotions were rough. He was feeling sadness, dismay, anger, and even despair. He had the Kyuubi sealed inside of him. By the Yondaime. '_Why did he chose me ? No, that's a stupid question, I'm a orphan, a nobody. I was the perfect choice, but why did it has to be me, damn it ? And the Old Man, why didn't he tell me ? Normal childhood my ass ! I've never could afford to be a child..._'

Naruto suddenly fell on his knees. At first, he only felt despair. Then came frustration, then anger, then rage, then revenge... He let out a huge roar, fill with rage and hatred for Konoha. The scream slowly died and turned itself into a mad laugh. Naruto got up and kicked the villager as hard as he can.

"And to think I believed my opinion of this town couldn't go any lower !" He screamed while kicking the prostrated man repeatedly. "You villagers... the Old Man... his ninja... his AnBu..." he muttered to himself, "I'LL MAKE YOU ALL DISAPPEAR !"

Naruto then shrouded the man with lighting and augmenting the intensity every second, making the man scream violently enough to torn his vocal cord to shreds. The screams then stopped abruplty. He was dead. But Naruto continued to unleash his power anyway, until the smell of burn flesh filled the room.

He intended to keep going but his sharp hearing suddenly signaled him than someone opened the front door of the warehouse. Considering the noise he made, it was bound to happen, so, before whoever it was spotted him in the dark, he vanished with his _**Thunder Step**_, leaving behind him a black smoking corpse completely unrecognizable.

* * *

When Naruto reappeared in his appartment, he was still fill with rage. He ran to a wall and punch it several time, leaving noticeable dent on it. He then sat on his bed, took his head in his hands and breathed deeply.

"All right... it's all right... calm down Naruto, calm down." he half sang to himself.

His hands and legs gradually stopped shaking and he lied down on his bed, crossing his fingers behind his head. This was calling for a slight change of plan. The fucking Yondaime put a demon inside of him, the villagers tyrannized him for it, and the stupid Old Man hide it from him. What a great day !

He watched the ceiling, deep in thoughts. What should he do now ? Was becoming Hokage enough of a revenge ? Or was this calling for more ?

Who was he kiding ? Of cause it was calling for more ! He was so angry he wanted to obliterate the village right now ! What should he do...

An idea came to mind. His revenge had to include the Kyuubi. The irony would be perfect. Of course, he couldn't simply release him. The thing could kill him along with the others. He didn't want that. But maybe... he could find a way to tap into the fox's power ? Yes, using the demon's power to crush those fools right after he would be Hokage, that would be nice !

He put his hand in front of his eyes and closed it into a tight fist. "It's settled then. I'll work toward this goal." he then glanced through the window into the night. Far on the horizon, he could see the Hokage tower.

"Just you wait, Konoha. You'll pay for your actions..."

* * *

Despite the late hour, the Hokage was sitting at his desk, reading a report from Hibiki about a murder in the industrial district.

There wasn't much to read. An animalistic scream was heard, accompanied with a chakra spike. When AnBu team reach the origin of the incident, all that was found was a burnt corpse. Unrecognizable. The roll call was taken, but no ninja was missing as far as they discovered. So, it was the body a foreign shinobi, or a civilian. Either way, the damages were clearly caused by a _katon jutsu_ or a very strong _raiton _one. No intrusion in the village was detected, and the searching parties found nothing.

'_I really didn't need that_' cursed the Sandaime internally. "AnBu !" He called.

"Hai" answered a kneeling figure in front of him.

"Stay in high alert. Double the guards on the sensitives spots. Send messenger to warn all the clan with bloodlines. Send a team to watch for Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke !"

"Hai" repeated the figure as it vanished.

The Hokage got up and walked to the window. He sighed deeply. "Orochimaru's treason, the Kyuubi's attack, the Uchiha massacre, Naruto is half mad, and now someone kill random people in my village. Is this a curse ?" He wondered out loud.

He snapped out of it. Now was not the time to lose it. It was never the time. Not when you had the responsability of that many lives.

'_The academy exam is tomorrow. Hopefully it'll distract me a little from all this madness._'

* * *

Iruka was a happy teacher. The exam was going well. All his students were doing well. '_Some more than others' _sweatdropped the Chuunin as one Nara Shikamaru gave up the second he entered inside the circle on the ground that marked the limit of the sparring match with Mizuki. Granted, the kid was so smart, he'd meet the requirement no matter what, but still, he could do so much more if only he wanted to.

"Next..." Iruka made a angry face when he read the next name on his list and yelled "Uzumaki Naruto !"

Mizuki flinched imperceptibly when Naruto entered the circle, but the blond spotted it nonethless and smirked.

'_Count on him to sneer at the others_' thought Iruka. He didn't understand the blond. He was an orphan like him, but couldn't be more different. Before he became a _shinobi_, Iruka was a happy kid, a joker and a prankster, craving for attention. All orphans were craving for attention. But not Naruto. Not the 'Kyuubi brat', as others were calling him when young ears weren't around. The teacher frowned his eyebrow in disapprobation. Of course he wasn't craving for attention, if that was the reaction he got out of most of the villagers. But was it a reason to be like that ? Iruka didn't think so. In fact, he had a great dislike for the boy, not because of the Kyuubi, but because of his behaviour.

He watched as Mizuki took a fighting stance. Naruto stayed perfectly relaxed, and Iruka would have scowled him for that if he hadn't seen him beat every of his other students. When one was such a _taijutsu_ monster, he could afford to be a little cocky. Beside, Iruka wasn't fooled. Naruto looked relaxed most of the time, but he could snap for little reason and was always weary of those around him.

* * *

Mizuki took a menacing step forward and then lashed out widely at his opponent. He remembered they told to go easy on them, but he would make an exception for the Kyuubi brat. He hated him with all his being. This monster killed everything he loved. His mother, his father, his fiancée... Even the retirement home of his grand parent was reduced to dust. With them in it.

For that, and for many other reason, Mizuki wanted the head of the little demon. He started with a punch to the face, which was a feint, and followed with a devastating kick to the ribs. Naruto fell for the tricks and took the hit. But where the blond should have winced in pain, he brushed it off like it was nothing and smirked.

"Careful, Mizuki-_sensei, _people will think you're actually trying to hurt me." And then he laughed.

Mizuki screamed in frustration and put a kunai in his hands. He then tried to stab the demon in the throat. Everything slowed down. He vaguely heard Iruka who was yelling something, but his attention was completetly focused on Naruto. Said boy's face grew serious when he saw the knife.

'_You're wrong, I'm not just gonna hurt you. I'm gonna kill you and finish what the Yondaime strated, you monster !_' thought Mizuki with what he considered righteous fury.

But then Naruto casually sidestepped the thrust, caught Mizuki's wrist and pulled. Mizuki lost his footing and could only witnessed Naruto using the momentum to augment the damage of a heavy uppercut.

* * *

Iruka winced when he saw Naruto almost perforated Mizuki's gut with his bare fist. He then remembered Mizuki's action with the kunai. He had to stop it, now ! He entered the ring as Naruto straightened up his sensei with a knee in the face, breaking his nose.

"Naruto ! That's enough !" yelled Iruka, but before he reached the pair,an AnBu appeared out of nowhere and chop Mizuki in the neck, knocking him out. "AnBu-_san _!" jumped Iruka, completely stratled.

The masked ninja picked Mizuki and threw him on his shoulder. He then turned to face Iruka. "I'll take care of things, Iruka-_san. _Carry on with the exam please" he said with a monotonous tone. He next used _shunishin _and disappeared.

Iruka sighed deeply and faced Naruto. "All right, you passed, return with the others." The blond just nodded and when into the crowd of students. Most of them were chatting excitedly, with a few notable exception. Shikamaru looked bored, Sasuke angry (pissed that he wasn't the one to fight a Chuunin for real, no doubt), Shino looked... as usual (Iruka saw some log with a more expressive face), and Hinata looked scared (probably afraid for her crush's safety).

"Enough ! The show is over, come with me inside so we can move on to the last part of the exam : _**Henge **_and _**Bunshin no jutsu **_!"

He heard a groan when he started walking and noticed Naruto grimaced in the corner of his eye. '_That's right_' thought Iruka '_ninjutsu is by far Naruto's weakness_'. But that wouldn't cost him as much as it would for anyone else. After all, the reason he couldn't get those _jutsu _properly was simply because he had way too much chakra. '_As fustrating as it is, he'll get his haitate this year, no doubt. Even if he sucked at everything, Hokage-sama would let him pass. Jinchuuriki are precious assets after all."_

Iruka certainly didn't approve of that. If Jinchuuriki weren't treated so poorly, the village would obtain a much more mentally stable (and more importantly, much more loyal) _shinobi. _But it was only his humble opinion and things wouldn't change for a long time. Humanity simply didn't really learn his lesson without getting a catastrophe as a price for their mistake. Iruka simply wished it wouldn't be Naruto.

"_Maybe he'll be just midly psychotic_" tought Iruka with cynicism as he entered his class, his students on his tail. He went to his desk and waited for everyone to sat and talked : "All right then, I'll call one by one, and when you're hearing your name, you're coming with me to the class next door. First : Aburame Shino !"

* * *

Iruka smiled. Everyone of his class had passed. It was perfect. A true reward for his hard work. Of course, sixty-six percent of them would come back here by tomorrow, but that wasn't within his power to change it, so he didn't think about it too much. He gave his usual speach about the responsability of being a ninja, and half his class fell asleep. He then used his big head _genjutsu_ and they miraculously woke up. Next, he started annoucing the team.

"...and Sawamura Ryohei, you'll be team 6 under _Jounin _Aoba !" The called students eyed each other a little warily and left. "Next is Uchiha Sasuke (he winced in advance when he read the second name), Haruno Sakura and-"

"HELL YEAH !" yelled the pink haired girl. "LOVE ALWAYS WIN IN THE END !"

Iruka did his best to ignore her and continued his calling : "and Uzumaki Naruto, you'll be team 7 under _Jounin-_"

BANG !

A huge noise reverbarated, startling Iruka.

BANG !

Again, the same noise. Iruka raised his eyes from his paper and watched perplexed one Uzumaki Naruto banging his head a third time on his desk, leaving a noticeable dent.

"You ok, Naruto ?" asked an almost concerned Iruka.

The blond didn't answer and left, each step unsteady, as if he were drunk.

* * *

_**Later during night.**_

Sasuke couldn't sleep. He was finally a _genin_, in other words, he was one step closer to his brother. Everything was going according to plan. Well, almost everything. He was a little concerned about his team-mates. First was the pink haired fan girl. She was weak and loud, but he could deal with that, she was predictible and would be very obedient, which was always a plus in his book.

No, his real concern was Uzumaki Naruto. At first at the academy, he didn't think much about him. He figured he was just an arrogant and brash kind of guy like that Inuzuka idiot. But then they started _taijutsu _class and he learn how strong and ruthless he was. True, he sucked at almost all the other subjects and was close to be the dead last, but when he looked at him in the eyes, he didn't saw a loser, but a wild animal, hungry and wounded. So angry and unstable it almost creeped him out. He didn't know how to handle that kind of person.

He turned and turned in his bed. Trying to find sleep and failing. '_One way or another, he'll need to learn to respect the Uchiha blood_' he tought. He was the rookie of the year after all. The elite, like all Uchiha were.

* * *

_**At the same time**_

Haruno Sakura didn't know if she should be overjoyed or afraid. On one hand, she was in Sasuke's team. She'd have plenty of opportunities to get a date, and be his girlfriend, and marry him, and...

She squealed in delight and thought about her other team-mate. To be franc, he simply terrified her.

When she saw him for the first him, she actually thought he was kind of hot. He was tall, had cool hair, and his whiskers were insanely cute (at least in her opinion). Plus there was that permanent smirk and his reputation that made him the bad boy type. She loved it. But then she saw him got in a fight in the streets.

She shuderred when she remembered this event. She was twelve years old at that time, and saw three newly promoted _genin_ bully Naruto. She was about to call her new _sensei_ when she saw Naruto beat the three teens in violent manner. And he didn't stopped here. Once they were on the ground, he kicked the shit out of them like there was no tomorrow, smiling widely all along.

That was when she understood why her parents told her he was trouble. And now that monster was in her team along with her Sasuke-_kun_. What could she do ? Ignore him ? No, he'll take that as an insult. But talking to him was also a way to make him angry. He snapped for almost no reason after all. In the end, all she could hope was that her futur _sensei_ would be able to control him a little. Though she had some doubts about that. '_Maybe I can be Sasuke-kun's damsell in distress_' she thought to reassure herself.

* * *

_**In Naruto's appartment...**_

BANG !

"Fuck !"

BANG !

"Fuck!"

BANG

"Fuckfuckfuckfuuuuuuck !" yelled Naruto, beating ruthlessly his poor wall. Pieces of plaster were flying everywhere and when he finally calmed down, his bedroom was covered with thin white dust.

The blond reluctantly sat on his bed, his hands still twitching from time to time. He knew his karma was bad but that was ridiculous. '_Seriously, I would have be okay with almost anyone else in the academy ! Am I cursed or what ?_'

He sighed deeply. True, he had sworn to be Hokage, no matter the diffuculties. But these two would severly test his resolve.

He clenched his fists, strengthening his determination. Like he said, he'd do anything to be Hokage, even working along with these two.

"Though it wouldn't hurt to push them off a cliff or something" he muttered to himself.

* * *

In the morning, all students were in class for a last time. One by one, the teams dispeared with their _sensei _and in the end, team seven was alone in the classroom with Iruka. The latter eventually left as well, muttering an excuse.

Not ten minute later, Naruto lost it. "Fuck that _Jounin _! He's gonna make us wait all day or what ?!"

Sasuke 'hned' and Sakura muttered something inarticulate. Naruto ignored their reactions and started building a deadly trap at the door with _kunai _and ninja wire.

"Wh.. what are you doing ?" whimpered Sakura.

"What do you think ? I'm baking some bread." answered Naruto with a snort. "I'm making this trap so this _Jounin _jackass learn not to be late for next time".

"But you could hurt him !" retorted a scandalized Sakura.

"If this trap actually hurt him, then he has no right to be my _sensei _" said the blond without concern.

Sakura whimpered once again, and Sasuke said nothing. In fact, he kind of agreed with Naruto here, even if he wouldn't have made the trap himself.

* * *

Minutes past, and everyone was now fixing the door with rapt attention. Finally, said door slided open and a head poked in. Naruto barely registered a mask and some grey hair when the movement of the door triggered his trap. A first _kunai _flew toward his target, which the man dodge comfortably. Next two other took flight and he dodged them as well. But then it was four, and eight, and to finish, sixteen. And he escaped them all without breaking a sweat.

"Too bad I didn't have some explosive tags" pointed out Naruto with a smirk.

The _Jounin _glared in his direction and entered the classroom. All three of them had a good look at him. He wore the standart ninja attire along with a mask that was hiding almost all his face with the exception of his eyes. '_Well, one eye anyway_' thought Naruto as he noticed the _haitate _on his forehead covered his left eye. He had gravity defying grey and a lazy posture.

"My first opinion of you guys is... I hate you. Especially you, blondie" he said while nodding in Naruto's direction. The blond let it slide, even him knew when to shut up. "Meet me on the roof" added the _Jounin_ as he disappeared with a _shunshin._

The newly appointed _genin _obeyed with variable enthusiasm. Sakura went first, almost running diligently, Sasuke was second, still silent, and Naruto went last, still pissed by the nerve of the guy to show up this late.

Once on the roof, they sat in front of the still unnamed _Jounin. _"All right. Frist things first, I want you to introduce yourself."

"Why don't you go first, _sensei _?" asked Sakura. "We still don't know your name after all."

"Iruka didn't tell you ?" wondered the man.

"Well, he did, but Naruto banged his head too hard on his desk, we didn't hear it."

The _Jounin _sweatdropped at that. "Very well" he sighed, "my name is Hatake Kakashi, I have many likes and dislikes... my hobbies, mmmh, you're a bit too young to hear it. As for my dream, I don't have any... You're up pinkie."

Sakura frowned a little at her surname but talked nonethless : "My name is Haruno Sakura. What I like is... I mean who I like is..." She looked at Sasuke and giggled, making Kakashi sweatdrop. Naruto, for his part, almost vomitted. Blushing, Sakura continued : "My dream for the futur..." she giggled again and Sasuke had to suppress a shiver. "I dislike Ino-pig !" she then screamed, pumping her fist in the air. She almost ad Naruto to that short list but stopped herself right on time.

"Okaaaay..." said Kakashi as if he were talking to a kid a little slow in the head. "You're next emo-_san_"

The dark haired boy ignored the jab and talked : "My name is Uchiha Sasuke, I have many dislikes and few things I like. I don't have any hobbies. Also, I wouldn't call it a dream, but I do have an ambition : to rebuild my clan and kill a certain man..."

Sakura squealed at Sasuke's badassery and Naruto snorted. Kakashi didn't look very moved, as if he expected that kind of answers. "And then there's you, Miser Trap."

'_Mister Trap ?_' wondered Naruto while raising an eyebrow. '_I can live with that, 'better than blondie at least_'. He cleared his throat and talked : "My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I like head on fights with strong opponents, _raiton jutsu_, and ramen. I dislike the vast majority of this village as well as weak people. My hobbies are training and cracking skulls, and my dream is to be Hokage."

Sasuke didn't react, but internally he thought :'_Raiton jutsu ? Interesting, I'll take them from him when I'll get my sharingan_'. Sakura look frightened and took a few step backwards. As for Kakashi, he eyed Naruto suspiciously but didn't comment.

"All right then. Let's not lose anymore time. We're going to take our first team exercise, well, it'll be more like a second exam, really, 'cause if you fail, you'll go back to the acadamy."

All three of them went wide eyed at that. "WHAT ?!" they screamed together.

Kakashi chuckle quietly, messing with them was so fun. "Yeah, about sixty-six percent of newly appointed genin are going back straight to the academy. I you don't want that, you'll have to pass my test. Meet me at training field seven in ten minutes." And with his piece said, he shunshinned away.

"That fucking jerkbag little piece of shit !" yelled Naruto. "No way I'm going back in there !" And with that he left, Sakura and Sasuke following him more quietly.

* * *

Kakashi was having fun tormenting the brats. Every year he received those startled reaction when he was revealing his test. This year, though, things were a little bit different. He understood the second he was assigned the Uchiha and Uzumaki that he'd have to pass them, no matter what. The council and the Hokage wouldn't waste an entire year with those two. It was stupid in his opinion. As powerful they may be, they had deep mental issues. Each of them were loners in their own way. Sasuke was like him at the same age. Cold, quiet, arrogant, strong for his age. Just what you'd expect from a survivor of the Uchiha clan.

Naruto, on the other hand, was making him worry. He knew he had anger issue, but that was just ridiculous. His body language was all tense, always on the edge. His eye stared defiantly at the world, like he was sure he could crush anything life was throwing at him. His introduction didn't calm his concern. '_Seriously ?_' thought Kakashi '_cracking skulls as a hobby ? And he hates weak people ?_' That wasn't good at all.

When he first heard of Naruto being involved in fights, he brushed it off. After all, his mother used to fight a lot too, and she became a fine _kunoichi. _But Naruto was diffrent, he understood it now. '_A little bit too late_' he add in his head with shame. Naruto didn't fight because of a childish anger. No, he was deadly pissed with the world.

There were also the _raiton jutsu _he mentionned. His files said he didn't know any _jutsu _beside the academy three. Was he hiding his true strength ? If so, now was the perfect time to figured it out.

He stopped his musing when he spotted his _genin_ approching. It was time to see what they were made of.

* * *

"All right then" started Kakashi as Naruto was leaning against a tree. "First, a question : I assume that you didn't have lunch, since you waited for me all this time, right ?"

"Don't remind me !" screamed Sakura.

Kakashi winced at the volume of her voice. She'd have to calm down if she wanted to survive on the field. "Perfect then. The test can start. It's a surviving test." he put out a pair of bells that he tied to his waist. "You need to take these bells from me. You have until 9 p.m. I you don't succeed, you get tied to these posts there and you won't get any lunch."

Sakura looked horrified and Sasuke actualy grunted. But Naruto brushed it off. He lived in the streets a whole year when he was younger. For him, skipping a meal was nothing.

"But _sensei_, there is only two bells" observed Sakura.

"That's right. I guess it means one of you won't eat. Also, after 9 p.m, we'll do this test again if all the bells aren't taken yet. This time, the one who doesn't get the bell will go back to the academy." Kakashi announced cheerfully.

None of the three reacted, the just eyed each other carefully, all of them determined to pass.

"All right !" said Kakashi, stopping the staring contest. "Ready ? Go !"

Sasuke and Sakura dashed into the nearby bushes and trees, that was what a ninja would do, but Naruto stayed there, arm crossed over his chest.

"You know, most ninja would be hidden by now." commented Kakashi.

"I'm not the stealthy type." replied Naruto. "Beside, didn't you listened to my intro, _sensei _? I like head on fights with strong opponents." And then he smirked. Too bad he'd have to restrain himself. He didn't want Konoha to know too much about his ability.

"Big words, but the dog who bark a lot is usually the more afraid." stated Kakashi.

Naruto almost snapped at this. '_Did this guy just called me a dog ?! He lucky i'd be in trouble if I killed him._' he finally calmed down and engage a _taijutsu _fight.

Kakashi was about to take his book. Naruto's speed wasn't impressive, the probability toget hit was low. But then he noticed the blond fighting stance. It was full of holes, but it was also like it was inviting the opponent to try his luck. '_Cocky_' thought Kakashi, '_'better teach him a lesson_'. He disappeared in a burst of speed and threw a punch behind Naruto's head. And there, to his reat surprise, Naruto cocked his head to avoid the blow and spin on himself, extending his leg in a low sweep perfectly executed. Kakashi's eye widened and he jump over it. Naruto then sent a barrage of punches and elbows hit that Kakashi dodged comfortably, despise Naruto moving at mid-Chuunin speed.

'_Impressive_' thought the _Jounin. _'_But not enough_' He switched into an unknown fighting stance and started retaliating. To his immense surprise, Naruto escaped all his hit, smiling widely. Finally, he managed to land a hit on his jaw. But he frowned immediatly. Naruto's skin was much harder than it should be. '_Weird_' thought Kakashi. His eyes then widened when Naruto completetly ignore the hit, kicked Kakashi in the chest, jumped in the bushes and disappeared.

* * *

To say that Kakashi was shocked was an understatement. Naruto was way stronger than he tought. He had been destabilised by his fighting style. It looked like brawling but it wasn't. Not completely. It was a fighting style that relied on a quick response time and on heavy strike. There was also his hardened skin that was extremely suspiscious. He'd make sure to tell the Hokage about that.

But he didn't have the time to think about it too much as the Uchiha appeared to try his luck as well.

* * *

Hidden behind a tree, Naruto was thinking. Things weren't adding up. First there was this bell test. He never heard of a two man _genin_-team. They were always three. Always. Second, he just used his high _Chuunin _level _taijutsu _against that Kakashi-guy and he brushed it off fairly easily. He was sure neither Sasuke or Sakura could do better, so there was a catch. It was almost like he wanted to...

'_Oh, right. Working together and all that crap. So he's the "figure it out by yourself" kind of guy ? I can live with that. Now, to make that whinny bitch Sakura working with me..._'

He ran in the forest, searching for something pink. He smelled in the air a little and follow the track of perfume that Sakura left behind her. '_Seriously ? Perfume ?_' He then found her, and before she even noticed him, caught her by the throat and slammed her into a tree.

"Alright, listen up, whiny. I'll attack Kakashi along with that prick Sasuke. When you see me using a _raiton jutsu_, you rush him and catch the bell. If you don't, I'll beat the shit out of you at the end of the exam, got it ?" He threatened.

Sakura nodded quickly a few times, tears already in her eyes. Naruto let her go and jumped into a tree to watch the fight. The Uchiha's _taijutsu_ was crappy in his opinion. He watched him throw a fireball at Kakashi. '_Humph, at least he knows some ninjutsu_' he thought as he leapt from the tree and landed right next to the prick.

Said prick eyed him with hostily. "What are you doing, dobe ? This is my fight !"

"Shut up." answered simply Naruto as he started making handseals. '_I knew making raiton jutsu with handseal would have come in handy_' he smirked then join his hands and yelled : _**Raiton : Sajo Sabaku no jutsu !**_

A thick and very detailed rope of lightning lashed out from Naruto's hand and flew toward Kakashi who was still in the air after jumping over Sasuke's fireball. Said rope winded up itself around Kakashi whose eye widened. '_That won't restrain him for long_' thought Naruto warily. He screamed : "Now, Sakura !"

The pinkette lashed out from the bushes where she was hiding and tackled Kakashi who managed to send her aways with a kick. But it was too late. The bells were hers and Naruto canceled his jutsu. He then went next to Sakura along with Sasuke.

Kakashi came closer and chuckled. "Well done, looks like you figured out the real purpose of this exam : teamwork. Was it your idea, Sakura ?"

"Huh ?" said the pink haired dumbly. "No. Naruto went to see me after his fight and threatened to beat me if I didn't do as he wanted."

Kakashi suddenly glared at Naruto who cocked his head to his right innocently.

"Did I, now ?" wondered Naruto out loud.

"Naruto..." said Kakashi menacingly.

"Come on, _sensei_ ! Did you think I could work well with them ? In your dreams ! So I had to trick them."

"Threatening your comrades of physical harm isn't a trick, Naruto." pointed out Kakashi.

"She's not my comrade. She didn't earn that right yet. So what do you say _sensei _? Did we pass ?"

Kakashi stood there, silently, his team could almost see the gear working in his head. '_I can't fail them_' he thought, frustrated '_and they did figured the real purpose of the test and worked as a team, sort of_'

"Looks like you did, Naruto" said Kakashi with fake nonchalance.

"YAY !" screamed Sakura.

Sasuke just 'hned' and left. Naruto smirked and left as well.

Kakashi sighed and dispeared with shunshin straight to the Hokage tower. He ignored the secretary seated at her desk and knocked at the S_andaime_'s door. He waited for the autorisation to enter and opened the door. The Hokage was at his desk, burried in paperwork. He looked at Kakashi and smiled warmly.

"Ha, Kakashi. Shall I deduce of you early presence that your team passed ?"

"Yeah... I guessed they passed" muttered the _Jounin._

"What's wrong Kakashi ?" asked the _Sandaime_ with a frown.

"What isn't wrong, Hokage-sama ? Naruto threatened his team-mate and force her to work as a team, and I have other concern as well."

Hiruzen frowned. This was a serious matter. "Explain" he ordered.

"Well, it appears that Naruto was hiding his true skills all those years. His _taijutsu_ is already at mid or high _Chuunin_ level. He also used a _raiton jutsu _I never heard of. It made a rope of lightning that catch me mid-flight easily. But my bigger concerned was that when I hit him I felt some kind of hardened skin. It wasn't natural at all."

The Hokage stayed silent, thinking about what he just heard.

"This isn't totally surprising" said finally the _sandaime_. "The boy is totally paranoid after all this trials."

"True. But we should still ask him some answers."

"Yes, we'll do that on his first mission assignement tomorrow. Before he learns about the true nature of D rank. _Kami _knows he'll be pissed with that."

Kakashi actually chuckled at that. "I cannot wait".

* * *

**Done ! Hope you liked it ! I didn't want Naruto to learn about the Kyuubi with Mizuki, so I found an other way. Tell me how did you like it ! See ya !**

**BlueScreen**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey, everyone ! I'm back ! Sorry for the delay, i got lost on the road of life :D**

**No, more seriously, it's just that I discovered the awesome game that is _The Secret World_ and I just couldn't stop playing it !**

**Before we start, I'll answer to a few questions I saw in the reviews, so here we go :**

**Gunslayer12 : **_No, Naruto will not kill anyone who look at him weird. Well, not now anyway. He's not a thug. He's a midly psychotic shinobi, which means he still have some sense of self-preservation. After all, if he were to kill a Konoha shinobi in front of witnesses, the Hokage would have him executed. You could say he's more sane than Gaara but less than Sasuke, if that helps. He has basically the same temper as Laxus during the battle of Fairy tail._

**Roboguy45 :** _No, Naruto didn't create jutsu with handseals just so Kakashi ans Sasuke can copy it. In fact, they can't, because his lightining is different from the basic lighting of something like the Chidori. Naruto's lightining is yellow, just like Laxus. It's a special one, like the black lightning that Darui's using. He creates jutsu with handseal so he can use his lightning without revieling he doesn't need handseals._

_And yes, Naruto's reaction time is faster. He had to, or he couldn't use the Thunder Step. It's like Flash from Marvel (or is it DC Comics ? I don't know much about those), he's so fast when he uses the Thunder Step that the others are like frozen in time._

_As for the Chidori, he's not gonna learn it. His own jutsu will be much better. You'll see ;)_

**And that's all for the questions. Don't hesitate to ask one in the reviews. Here we go !**

**Disclaimer : Don't own Naruto, yada, yada, yada.**

* * *

Naruto was in a foul mood. The day had started so well ! He almost got Kakashi with his trap when he showed up late again and his so called team-mates' had let him alone all morning. But then they went to the Hokage tower and his good mood went through the window.

_**-Flashback-**_

_Kakashi knocked at the Hokage's door and turned to face them with a serious face._

_"Sakura, Sasuke, stay here a moment, I have to talk to Sandaime-sama about Naruto" He then entered the office after hearing the autorisation, not even bothering to check if the blond had followed._

_Naruto knew he had some explanation to make about the abilities he displayed during the bell-test. He wished he didn't have to answer at any question but the Hokage was his boss now, whether he liked it or not. It was inevitable. He closed the door behind him, taking pleasure in the jalous look he got from the Uchiha and went next to Kakashi and stayed still._

_"Naruto..." started the Hokage. "Do you know why you're hear ?"_

_"Well, Old Man, I'm guessing it has something to do with the abilities I showed in the genin test, right ?" asked Naruto with a sigh._

_"And you would be correct." stated the Hokage. "So ?"_

_"So what ? Hokage-sama ?" wondered the blond while playfully insisting on the '_sama_'._

_"Don't play dumb with me, Naruto" groaned an annoyed Sarutobi. "Kakashi, can you list what abilities raised your concern ?"_

_"Hai, Hokage-sama. During his test, Naruto displayed a Chuunin level taijutsu. Not very surprising considering his tendancies to pick a fight with everyone. But he also used an unknown raiton jutsu. I also noticed when I hit him that he had some technic that seemed to harden his skin."_

_Kakashi then turned his head to watch Naruto's reaction while the Hokage was looking at the blond, waiting for an explanation._

_Said blond sighed and started talking. "I don't know where the hardened skin come from. It's one of the mysterious characteristic of my body, with the enhanced senses. Maybe it's some kind of kekkei genkai, I'm have no idea, and frankly I don't care. As for the lightning justu, the reason why it's unknown to you is because I invented it with a few others."_

_The Hokage and his Jounin stayed silent, processing what they heard. Neither of them had detected a lie in the blond declaration, but they were both convinced that Naruto wasn't telling them everything. The changes of his body was most likely coming from the Kyuubi, they thought. The beast had to give his host things more usefull than whisker marks, after all. As for the raiton jutsu, well, it wasn't really a security threat, though the Hokage had to ask something about that._

_"Naruto, why did you keep this a secret ? And how did you create multiple jutsu ? It is a very difficult feat, you know. Only shinobi of Kakashi's caliber can manage that."_

_"Yeah, well, my raiton affinity is extremely strong, it's not that difficult for me. As for why I hid my abilities, do I really have to explain that ? How would react those that hates me should they learn I'm getting stronger ? I had to wait to be under your direct command to reveal my true potential."_

_'_Or at list a little part of it_' thought Naruto with a smirk._

_The Sandaime nodded, convinced by the logic. He was about to let the other two genin enter when Kakashi asked : "You mentionned that there was more than the one jutsu you showed during our fight. Something dangerous I should know about ?"_

_"Not really" answered Naruto as he shrugged his shoulders._

_"You're lying" pointed an annoyed Kakashi._

_"True. But that doesn't change the fact that I don't have to reveal my techniques to anyone, it's in the law. I checked" said the newly appointed genin._

_Kakashi glared and was about to retort when the Hokage coughed noisily to interrupt the argument._

_"That's enough, Kakashi, Naruto is right. Take your team and take a mission, will you ?"_

_Kakashi nodded stiffly and left, Naruto right behind him. He opened the door and motionned Sasuke and Sakura to follow. He then went to an other room where there was a Chuunin behind a desk with a huge mountain of paperwork on it. Said Chuunin raised his head and nodded to Kakashi._

_"Team seven reporting for duty. We'll take a D-rank." The Jounin then paused and smirked. "The retrieve-Tora mission, if it's available"._

_The Chuunin looked at Kakashi like he was a madman but complied and hold out a paper to the sharingan user. He took it without a word and left with his team in his tail._

_**-Flashback end-**_

Naruto walked down a street, cursing all the way.

Damn that Kakashi ! Damn him to hell ! He didn't graduate to the academy for this kind of shit ! And Iruka and his speech about responsability and the life of his comrades on the line could go fuck himself !

'_Life on the line my ass !_' thought the blond while kicking the dirt. '_What are the risks here ? Catching flea ? Twisting an ankle ?_'

He turned into an other street when a voice manifested itself in his earpiece.

"Emo here, I have the target in sights. Right behind the library. It's searching food in the trash".

"Copy that, Emo. Pinkie, , go behind the library and meet Emo. Try to surround the target and catch it."

"Pinkie, ok" said Sakura.

Naruto swallowed his pride painfully and whimpered miserably : "Blondie, ok." He then ran to the suppose location of the target, still cursing under his breath. He passed the library and spotted Sasuke flattened against a wall in a pathetic attempt of stealth. He nodded to him and waited for Sakura and Kakashi to show up.

They came a few second later, making sure to hid themselves from any eyes in the alley where the target supposedly was.

"Alright team" said the Jounin cheerfully "try to be as quiet as possible. Sasuke, you stay here, Sakura, you go on the rooftop, Naruto..."

Naruto snapped. He had more important things to do than catching a damn cat !

"Screw this !" He turned to his team-mates and added. "Wait here". He then went into the alley.

Kakashi made no move to stop him. The brat needed a lesson in his opinion. He tilted his head into the alley to witness Naruto making three handseal and joining his hands in front of him. He then screamed : _**Raiton : Hainawa no jutsu !**_

Lightning leapt from his joined hands and fastened itself to a terrified cat with a ribon on the ear. Naruto then pulled the cat toward him, canceled his jutsu and used the momentum he generated to catch the cat like a footballer. He totally ignored the animal which was trying to claw his way out of his situation. His skin was too hard to be damaged by something like this.

Sakura looked a little impressed when he came back, and Sasuke was hesitating between being relieved that the stupid mission was over or jealous that it wasn't him who caught the beast. Kakashi was simpy annoyed.

"Naruto..."he began "you can't disregard a direct order just because you think you can complete the objective better... what was that _jutsu_ anyway ?"

Naruto ignored the reprimand and answered : "It's just a weaker but faster version of the one I used on you during your test. Can we go now while I still have a more or less intact shirt ?"

True to his word, the cat had started to reduce Naruto's sleeve to shreds. Kakashi nodded and started walking toward the Hokage tower, his team following him closely.

Sakura decided to break the incomfortable silence by asking a question that made her preoccupied : "_Sensei_, are all ninja missions so..." she closed her mouth trying to think of a polite term.

"Shitty ?" suggested Naruto.

"Unfit to a ninja ?" supplied Sasuke.

"Yeah.. that." nodded Sakura with a blush when her eyes crossed her crush's.

"Well" said Kakashi lazily, one hand in his pocket, the other one holding his precious orange book "D-rank mission aren't meant to use your skills. Basically, it's supposed to promote teamwork and getting you to know each other."

Naruto and Sasuke snorted at that and the blond said : "Key word being 'supposed'. Seriously, Kakashi. I can barely stand these two. The less I know them the better. I'm sure Sasuke thinks the sa-"

But he didn't finish his sentence. Kakashi had turned around and grabbed the blond by the front of his shirt. He looked postively murderous.

"Now listen here, you little shit. You really have to change your attitude because I won't stand for it. Who do you think you are, huh ? Teamwork is the most important skill a ninja should perfect. The life of his comrades are lying in his own hands. If you don't respect that, don't expect others to come and save your ass when you'll need it."

For once, Naruto didn't immediately lashed out. He caught Kakashi's wrist an spoke in an ice cold tone : "And where were your precious comrades when I was beaten daily when I was young ? Oh, wait, they were the ones doing the beating !"

Kakashi visibly flinched at that, but Naruto wasn't finished.

"You see, Kakashi, I've always been alone. I don't even understand your teamwork crap. As for saving my ass, I'd rather slit my own throat than having the shame to be rescued by someone like you. Now, get your hand off me before I remove it from your body..."

The two stared at each othe defiantly, neither of them willing to let the matter go, as they were persuaded to be right. Sasuke and Sakura watched the exchanged, mute. The pinkette was positively frightened but Sasuke was deep in thought. He was trying to remember something.

'_This guy..._' he remembered '_he's the one Father told me to stay away from. So he's an orphan, huh... He's more like me than I thought..._'

Kakashi finally let it go with a sonorous 'uhn', a remembrance of his old self, and resumed his walk to the Hokage tower. He didn't show it, but he was close to tears. The son of his beloved _sensei_ was almost completely lost in his rage. There was absolutely no trace of the serene temper of his father or the joyfull and dynamic personallity of his mother in him. In fact, he took more from the Kyuubi than anyone else. The _Jounin_ wasn't deluded, though. He knew the villagers were to blame for this. Hell, _he_ was also a part of the problem. When his _sensei_ died, he enrolled in the AnBu and burried his grief into a mountain of work. But now, he couldn't help wondering : Had he been there more for Naruto, would he have turned like this ? Surely not.

True, he was ordered to stay away from him by the Hokage because he feared someone would make the connection between Kakashi's interest for the boy and the ressemblance between Naruto and the Yondaime. He knew now that it had been a mistake. But maybe he could salvage a part of the blond humanity ? He needed to speak to the Hokage about this.

He was so deep in thought he barely registered that he already was in the _Chuunin_'s office. He quickly recomposed and gave his brief report.

"Team seven reporting success concerning the capture of 'Tora the cat'."

"Right" answered the _shinobi_ with a bored tone. "Put him in the cage and I'll give you your reward".

Naruto unceremoniously did so with a sadistic smirk. He then took the envelope with his pay in it that Kakashi was helding out to him. The _Jounin_ did the same for Sakura and Sasuke and then spoke : "Alright, team. It was a rough day, so I'll give you the rest of the evening. Don't ge used to it, though. Tomorrow we're gonna work non-stop."

Sasuke and Naruto nodded while Sakura gave an enthousiast "_Hai_ !" Immediately after the three teenagers left his sight, Kakashi made a bee line for the Hokage office. He knocked at the door, wait for the permission to enter and did so.

"Kakashi" welcomed the _Sandaime_ "what can I do for you ?"

"It's about Naruto."

"What of him ?" asked the Hokage calmly.

"I don't even know where to start. You told me he had anger issue, but I don't think you truly understand the extent of it" said Kakashi a little angrily.

"What do you mean ?"

"Well, when you told me about it, I thought he was just a very pissed teenager, like Sasuke. But Naruto is different." He stayed silent for a few seconds and added : "He's very close to be completely psychotic."

"Now, now, Kakashi. I think you're a little dramatic" commented the Hokage with a grandfatherly tone. He lighted his pipe and inhaled a little smoke.

Kakashi sighed. That was what he feared. The _Sandaime_ had no idea how dangerous Naruto could be in the futur if things were to continue like they were.

"Hokage-sama..." he began, "he's so angry and mistrusting of others that he said, and I quote : 'I'd rather slit my own throat than having the shame to be rescued by someone like you'".

The 'God of Shinobi' stayed silent, pondering the information he just got. He already knew that Naruto's psychologic problem were very deep, he wasn't stupid. But if the _genin_ couldn't even work with others, how could he go to missions ? This was indeed a problem...

"I asumed you already thought of a solution ?"

"Hai" answered Kakashi. He gathered his resolve and finally said : "Hokage-sama, we have to tell him the truth about his inheritance."

The Professor's eyes widened a little but otherwise, he gave no reaction. "I see... And what good would that make in your opinion ?"

"Well, I thought that if he were to learn about his parents, and how they were good people, he would at least respect his father dying wish, and protect the village."

"Or... he could get even more angry and try to kill everyone. Did that thought crossed your mind, Kakashi ?"

The _Jounin_ stepped back, startled. "Hokage-sama, surely if he knew the truth, he would try his best to make his parents proud, don't you think ?"

"If he had an healthy mind, yes, that's what he would do. But try to take think from his point of view, Kakashi. He only knows anger. If he were to learn that it was the village leader that made his life a living hell, how do you think he'll react ?"

"It wasn't in _sensei_ intention to do that !" replied the cyclop, scandalized.

"I know, but that's what Naruto will think, no doubt about that."

Kakashi wanted to protest. Hell, he wanted to yell at the Hokage for his responsabilities in the making of this Naruto. But he couldn't. He also used to be a part of the problem. He didn't watch over his _sensei_'s son like he should have. Something was bothering him, though.

"Hokage-sama... Naruto will most likely always be unstable. Are you saying that he'll never know the truth ?"

"Yes, Kakashi, that's exactly what I'm saying." answered the _Sandaime_ with a saddened tone.

"But Hokage-sama ! We-"

"No 'but' Kakashi ! Don't you see ? The brat doesn't have the Will of Fire. His own fire his only destructive and I'm not going to fuel it ! That is final !"

"Then how am I supposed to deal with his lack of teamwork ?" replied the _Jounin_ stubbornly.

"I'll assign your team a C-Rank escort tomorrow. Hopefully the brat will learn what it means to protect someone. The advisors were pestering me about giving a higher mission to the Uchiha, anyway. That way, I kill two bird with one stone."

Kakashi certainly didn't agree with that. No member of his team was ready for a mission outside the walls. But orders were orders and he nodded stiffly.

"Dismissed" said the Hokage.

Kakashi nodded again and left, leaving behind a frustrated Hokage.

'_I'm too old for this shit. If only you were there Minato-kun..._'

* * *

The next day, Naruto was very surprised the see the Hokage sitting right next to Iruka in the mission room.

"Hey, Old Man" he saluted casually as he walked in, not bothering to acknowledge the presence of Iruka.

"Naruto !" yelled the _Chuunin_ angrily, "such blatant disrepect will not go un-"

"Enough, Iruka. He's calling me this to irrate those around me. Don't give him this satisfaction, will you ?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama" answered the _Chuunin _pitifully.

"Now, team seven will be charge to escort someone to wave country. This is a C-Rank so I expect you to be in your best behaviour" annonced the _Sandaime_ while warning Naruto with a glare. The blond, for once, kept his mouth shut. This was business. If he wanted to progress in rank one day, he had to keep his temper in check. For now.

Satisfied with Naruto's silence, he said outloud : "Come on in now Tazuna-san !" The door slided open and a tall man in his late fifties entered. His solid build was clearly pointing him as some kind of worker. He needed to lean against the doorframe to stand. That and the bottle of sake in his hand was showing that he was totally drunk.

"What's this ? Except the one with the mask, they're all a bunch of super brats. I paid good money for protection, not babysitting !"

Sakura and Sasuke looked both annoyed but Naruto just gave the man a predatory smirk which made him shut up. That kind a smile was reminding him too much of the thugs that were on a certain midget's payroll back home.

The Hokage ignore the jab and said : "Team seven this is Tazuna-san. He's a bridge builder in Wave country. You'll escort him back to his home. Also Tazuna-san, you paid for a C-Rank, so this is the kind of protection you'll have. Don't worry though, they're perfectly able to defend themselves and your person. Plus Kakashi here is a _Jounin_. He can take care of any bandits, no problem."

"Humph, I guess we'll see." He then turned to face Kakashi. "When are you willing to live ?"

"Well, it's still morning, so now would be good if that's okay with you." the _Jounin _said with an eye smile.

Tazuna nodded grumpily "That would be best. I'm already packed so I'll wait for you and your team at the front gate." And he left.

Kakashi faced his team and ordered : "All right. You heard the man. We're leaving now. I'll let you some time to pack. Be at the front gate in thiry." And he dissapeared with a s_hunshin. _

Naruto went to his appartement and filled a little bag with food and various other supplies. He was deep in thought.

'_I have to be careful with this one. If I succeed, it's possible the only D-Rank I'll ever do was this cat retrieve mission ! Eh, I knew being in a team with the Uchiha had its perks. They probably gave us this mission in the hope that he'll awaken his damn sharingan._'

Naruto threw his bag on his shoulder and went to the front gate. Only Kakashi and the client were already there. He leaned against a wall, unwilling to start a conversation. Tazuna was eyeing him carefully and the _Jounin_ just ignore him. Ten minutes later, Sasuke showed up, Sakura scampering happily in his tail. It was her first trip with Sasuke-kun !

"Alright, team. You'll move in triangle formation around Tazuna-san. Naruto, you take the front. Sasuke and Sakura, the back. I'll stay behind you all to provide support should it be needed, but this is your mission. If you display good teamwork, maybe there will be another C-Rank after this one."

It was a lie, of course. Kakashi wasn't the one to decide their affectation. But it was necessary. He could already see the effect of his tirade. Sakura looked more hopefull, Sasuke smirked, and Naruto looked like he was hesitating between being his normal self or forcing himself to work with the others.

The _genin_ took their position and they started walking. Once in a while, Sakura was asking questions to the client about his country or his job. Much to Kakashi's dismay, she was totally oblivious to her environnement. Sasuke was keeping his surrounding in check, and Naruto was walking casually like Kakashi, hands on his pocket. He was totally on edge, though.

That's why he immediately noticed a puddle in the middle of the road. It was suspicious. Naruto didn't looked like it, but he was smart, in a practical way. So he knew something was up. That and the puddle was smelling blood and iron. His mind quickly process this information and he decided to do nothing. It was a C-Rank, no _shinobi_ should attacked them. If Kakashi wanted to engage them, it was fine. But if not, the blond decided to restrain his violence tendancies. He definitely wanted an other C-Rank after this one and for that, he had to stay calm. He stayed on guard, though. He looked quickly behind him to see if the others had spotted the possible ambush. Sakura looked totally unconcerned, but Sasuke was on edge. Kakashi was as lazy as ever but he was sure he saw the danger.

The group passed the puddle without incident but once it was behind them, a chain with blades erupt from the water and tied itself around Kakashi. Two _nin_ followed the chain, each one holding the end of it. They pulled it simultaneously and the _Jounin_ was reduced to shreds, making Sakura scream at the top of her lungs. Naruto winced at the noise.

"One down, three to go" said one of the ennemy in a voice distorted by a rebreather. The other was wearing one as well, with a brown cloak. They had Kiri headbands on their forehead. They raised their gauntlet and threw the chain at Naruto who just smirked.

"Sasuke ! Take the one on the left !" yelled the blond. He then crouched down, letting the chain pass harmlessly over him. He smiled widely as he threw himself at his opponent.

Said opponent dropped the chain and raised a gauntlet with bladed fingers. Naruto sidestepped the threat, got closer and caught the arm with the gauntlet. Then, he headbutted his oponent who couldn't fall because the blond was holding him. Taking advantage of the fact that the Kiri _nin_ was groggy, Naruto proceed to beat him to a pulp. He punched him twice in the face, letting the rebreather fly away. He added to that a violent uppercut in his the ribs, breaking them in the process.

A knee in the groin followed, and he let go of his opponent arm. The _nin_ used his unarmed hand to hold his damaged family jewels, his torso bent down. Seeing an opportunity, Naruto smashed his elbow on the back of the ennemy's head with all his strenght, shattering his skull. He watched the corpse of his victim fell and smirked widely. He turned to see how Sasuke was holding on, just to see him frying his opponent with a fireball.

His heart was beating enthusiastically in his chest. This was the kind of thing he was thinking about when he became a _genin_ ! Though he was a little disappointed that Sasuke managed to beat the other. He could have used the practice. He eyed the client and Sakura. The pinkette was shaking like a leaf and Tazuna was deathly pale. He ignored them and looked around for Kakashi because there was no way the weaklings he and Sasuke just fought would be able to scratch him, let alone kill him. He was nowhere in sight, though he could smell him somewhere on his right.

"Ha ! That's exactly why I signed up !" laugh the blond. "They were a little disappoiting, though" he added as he kicked the one he just killed in the ribs.

"Hn" answered Sasuke with a satisfied smirk. "Serve them right to challenge an Uchiha."

Sakura was too shaken to cheer. She knew being a _kunoichi_ meant that her life was on the line, but she didn't think she would risk it so soon ! She gasped as she felt a hand catching her shoulder. She turned with a kunai in hand and her eyes widened.

"Kakashi-_sensei _!" she screamed, overjoyed. "You're alive ! But how ?"

"_**Kawarimi no jutsu**_" answered the cyclop with an eye smile. "Don't worry Sakura, I'll never let my comrades die." He then turned to his other two _genin_. "Good work you two. Though Naruto, you could have used a _kunai_ instead of your fist, the fight would have ended sooner."

"I'm not very good with those" muttered Naruto.

It was true, in a way. But he really didn't use weaponry because with his lightning, it would only take one touch to kill his ennemy, so _shurikenjuutsu_ and _kenjutsu_ was mostly useless for him.

"Tazuna-san, we need to talk" said Kakashi.

* * *

Tazuna the super bridge builder was both relieved and terrified.

Relieved, because while the brat were young, the two male were obviously strong fighters. Tough the blond one took too much pleasure in killing his oponent in his humble opinion.

Terrified, because by the way the masked _Jounin_ was watching him, hewas sure he figured out his lie.

"Tazuna-san, we need to talk" said the cyclop.

The bridge builder gulped. "About what ?" he asked unsteadily.

"You know very well about what, but I'll humor you. After I escaped the ennemy's ambush, I watched carefully the two _nin_'s behaviour. While it's true they tried to take out Naruto after me, their eyes where locked on you most of the time. You were their target. So now, tell why I shouldn't arrest you for your lie. Would we have known it wasn't a C-Rank, we wouldn't have sent _genin_ to do the job. You put them in danger !" he growled menacingly.

"Please, you have to understand !" pleaded Tazuna, his hands in front of him in a calming motion. "My country is dying, we're super poor ! I didn't have a choice ! My bridge is the last hope for my people !"

"Explain" ordered Kakashi coldly.

"Back in Wave, the shipping magnate Gato owns all the boats in the country, as well as the ports ! A few years ago, he started hiring thugs and made us pay for his 'protection'. He's bleeding us dry ever since ! The _daimyo_ dosen't have enough men to do anything. He's the unofficial owner of the land, we're becoming desparate !"

Tazuna then went on his knee and strated to beg.

"Please ! My bridge is our last hope ! If you leave, I'll die for sure ! Please ! I have a daughter and a grandson ! They need me !"

Tears were falling along his old cheeks now, and the cyclop looked very uncomfortable. The pinkette seemed ready to cry and the black haired kid was shaken as well, he could tell. The blond brat, in other hand, just grinned widely.

"The four of us against an army of thugs ! I like it ! Come on Kakashi, we can't let go of an opportunity like this ! Beside, he lied to save his comrades." laughed the _genin_, insisting on the 'comrade' like it was some kind of password.

The masked _nin_ glared at him at watched the other two brat. "What do you think guys ? Should we continue ? Just so you know, these guys you just fought were low _Chuunin_ level, so our next opponent will most likely be a _Jounin_."

The pinkette looked frightened but the dark haired _genin_ merely smirked cockily. Tazuna strated to hope. He watched as the cyclop sighed and finally said : "Very well. But no more surprise, Tazuna-san."

"Sure ! I promise ! You guys have my super thanks."

* * *

Back in Wave, in a huge mansion two _nin_ were engage in a serious discussion about their training. One was extremely tall and muscular. His lower face was covered in bandage and a huge _zanbato_ was leaning against the wall next to him. The other one was short and was wearing a green expensive looking kimono. His face was completely hidden by a white hunter-_nin _mask.

They were discussing about _kenjutsu _when a midget in a business suit entered the room with a few armed goons behind him. He had round sunglasses and a wild mane on his head.

"Oy, Zabuza, my men just told me the two idiots you sent to get ride of that annoying bridge builder failed in their task. They got themselves killed by some Konoha _nin_. Meh, so much for the demon in the Mist and his soldiers, you useless foo-"

He stopped talking as the tall man took his sword in one hand and casually swung hit to point the tip at the midgte's nose.

"Silence, Gato" he growled. "I will not tolerated such disrespect. And don't worry about the _shinobi_ from Konoha. I'll deal with them... personnaly."

He then began to radiate killing intent, making everyone in the room with the exception of his comrade shaking in fear.

* * *

**Aaaand done ! Wow, that took longer than I expected !**

**A few precisions : While the Sandaime think the hardened skin and the enhanced senses comes from the Kyuubi, in reality it's because Naruto is the lightning DragonSlayer. Just so we're clear.**

**Also, I know the raiton jutsu he used until now are all bleach Kidos, but there will be originals, don't worry.**

**That's all ! Tell me what you think about it ! Later !**

**BlueScreen26**


	5. Chapter 5

**THIS STORY IS CANCELLED ! (I know what you're thinking : 'yeah, I would have guessed that on my own ! Well turns out I still got a review two days ago, hence this notice !)**

**Hey guys ! I'm back ! I don't have any excuse for the delay, so I won't give you any :D I guess I became somewhat uninterested in this story. But worry not ! I will do my best to finish it anyway ! I've already got the ending in mind, so, there's that.**

**Now then, without further ado, the answers to your questions/remarks !**

**Kunoichi of the Moonlit Night : **_True, it would be better to tell Naruto the truth right now so that if he were to explode it would still be manageable. But the Sandaime is a tired old man and a fervent adept of the status quo. He clearly proved it when he failed to stop Orochimaru the first time and let him go, frozen in shock. He can't accept the ugly reality of things anymore. In other words, he's unfit to be Hokage._

**Zolydck : **_No, he doesn't have the Third Raikage's power. His skin could be cut by a katana for example, but not by senbon. Kunai ? Maybe. Not completly though. I thought I made that clear somewhere in the story, but apparently no enough. It's true we don't know if Laxus has a though skin, but since he's a Dragon Slayer, I gave him some of the non-fire related powers that Natsu showed in Fairy Tail. For example, in the Tower of Heaven Arc, Wally Buchanan shot Natsu with a magic gun and he survives so I thought hardened skin wasn't so farfetched._

**MrWinteck : **_Don't worry, there will be no more mention of Fairy Tail in the story. Otherwise I would have categorized it as a crossover. Laxus was here at the beginning simply to give some legitimity for the origin of Naruto's power (just to have something else than the classic 'Kyuubi wants a strong host and so give him a secret uber kekkei genkai)._

**And that's it for the question ! So here we go !**

**Disclaimer : Don't own Naruto.**

* * *

A few hours later, the excitement of the fight had deflated. Naruto, and by the look of his face Sasuke, were bored. Walking at civilian pace didn't help the matter. Sakura was back to her annoyingly cheerful self, as if her eye opening and life threatening experience didn't even happen.

'_One would think that the kunoichi of the year would have at least a tiny spark of intelligence, but nooooo, she have to be a stupid frail innocent lamb !_' ranted Naruto in his mind. '_One thing is for sure : if that's the best the academy has to offer, we're not gonna survive another Shinobi war._'

Kakashi, though, had put his book back in his pouch and no longer faked obliviousness to his environment. They had reached the shore a little earlier and took a boat. They were now on the island itself and the whole group was engulf in a thick fog. They couldn't see ten feet ahead and their sense of smell and hearing were impaired. Naruto being who he is, that wasn't completly true in his case. Which why he was the one to suddenly throw a kunai in the nearby bushes.

Everyone froze at the action. Kakashi signaled his group to stop as he went to check the area where the kunai landed. He disappeared a second and came back holding a dead white rabbit by its long ears.

« Tch. I thought I heard something bigger. Stupid rabbit, making me act paranoid » grumbled Naruto.

Sakura wanted very much to berate the blond for killing such a cute fluffy bunny, but before she managed to summon the courage to do so, Kakashi's eye widened and he yelled « Get down ! »

For once, his team promptly obeyed his order. And it was very fortunate they did, because as soon as the group hit the dirt (Sasuke was thoughtful enough to take Tazuna with him), a huge cleaver-like zanbato came spinnig through the air and embed itself deeply in a nearby tree, almost cutting it in half. The team barely had time to stand up before a tall man appeared in a burst of speed, standig in his blade, eyes close.

Sasuke, Sakura, Tazuna and even Kakashi were eyeing the newly arrived shinobi warily. His appearance screamed danger to their senses. He was wearing bandages to cover the lower half on his face. He had a slashed Kiri forehead protector that he was wearing sideways on his head, marking him as a nuke-nin. He had standard shinobi sandals on his feet, with black pants and cow pattern camouflage leg-warmers and and wrist-warmers. He was also shirtless. All in all, he was an intimidating character.

At least until Naruto burst out laughing.

« Oh man ! What an entrance ! Someone is a drama queen ! »

The man none-existent eyebrow twitched, and just like that, the tension was broken. Sakura and Tazuna suddenly remembered to breath and Sasuke and Kakashi allowed themselves a small smirk.

« Someone forgot to teach your brats some manners, Copy Ninja » grunted the missing-nin in a rough voice, « they should know not to mock people stronger than them. I initially came just for the bridge builder, but maybe I should butcher the kids as well ».

Sakura swallowed audibly, and just like last time, took a kunai in both hands, shaking like a leaf but standing before Tazuna nonetheless.

Neither Sasuke nor Naruto had the time to retort, because Kakashi raised his hand to stop them and ordered : « Protect, Tazuna-san, you three, I'll take care of this guy. He's out of your league. » He then raised his headband to reveal something that his team couldn't see, but made the Kiri nuke-nin's eyes widened in anticipation.

« Oh ? The sharingan already ? I'm honored. »

Sasuke gave a start and Sakura asked innocently : « Sharingan ? ».

« It's a kekkei genkai that only an Uchiha can awaken. It's a powerful doujutsu that gives you various advantages on the battlefield » answered the avenger automatically. '_But why does this guy have it ? He's not part of the clan. And in only one eye ?_' he added in his head.

Kakashi ignored his Genin discussion to focus on his opponent. « You're well infromed », the silver haired remarked casually, « but so am I, Zabuza of the bloody mist. »

« Once again, I'm honored » retorted the newly identified Zabuza.

« Bloody mist ? » asked once again Sakura, « what's th- «

« ENOUGH ! » Interrupted Naruto with a yell. « This is not a fucking tea party ! You guys start killing each other already ! »

Kakashi gave a twitch. Zabuza gave a twitch. He was the first to recover. He put his hands in the ram seal and said ominously : « You really need to be taught some manners, brat. But very well, you'll come to regret your words. _**Kirigakure no jutsu !**_ »

No sooner had he said that the mist started getting denser and denser until no one could see three feet ahead.

« Eight choices » said Zabuza's voice from everywhere at once, « liver, lungs, spine, clavical vein, neck vein, brain, kidneys, heart… Which one should I go after ? »

The voice was so heavily layered with killing intent that everyone except Naruto and Kakashi started shaking. Sasuke even took out a kunai to end his life until the Jinchuuriki whacked behind the head.

« Get it together, moron ! How can you plan to stand up to somebody like Itachi if you can't even breath in this guy's presence ? »

« I thought we were done talking ? » interrupted Zabuza, appearing right into their midst, his sword already on the move.

Naruto barely had time to react. In a blur of motion, he stole Sasuke's kunai to block the strike, holding the knife with both hands. He was confident in his hardened skin, but not THAT confident. His arms were shaking in his attempt to push the enemy back. But Zabuza's strength, plus the weigh of his sword, was starting to be to much for him.

'_Damn it !_' thought the blond, '_I won't hold that guy for long ! What kind of strength is that ? I know I asked for a challenge but this is ridiculous ! If this goes on I'll have to go all out, and even then, I'm not sure I can beat this monster ! And where the hell is Kakashi when you need him ?!_'

As if summon by his thoughts, the Jounin appeared in a burst of speed and stabbed a kunai behind Zabuza's neck. Unfortunately, instead of the spray of blood Naruto was hoping for, he was drenched in water.

« The fuck ?! » he yelled. But before he could add something, another Zabuza came behind Kakashi and cut the sharingan user cleanly in half, only for him to burst into water.

« He copied my _**Mizu Bunshin**_ in this mist ? » muttered the nuke-nin.

Before he could further ponder on this, Kakashi burst from the ground behind him only to put a kunai under his chin.

« It's over » said Kakashi.

« You would think so, right ? » asked the demon of the mist rethorically as he once again burst into water. An other one appeard behind the Konoha Jounin and kicked hard enough to send him flying into the nearby waters.

The silver haired used the surface clinging to stay on the water, yet he couldn't help but notice it felt off somehow. Almost… heavy. His eyes widened in realization.

« Shit ! » he swore. But before he could move away, the liquid encased him completly, forming a sphere, and Zabuza appeared behind him. One hands holding his technique in place.

« _**Suiro no jutsu**_ » said Zabuza with a smirk. « You didn't live up to your reputation, Kakashi. »

But the Jounin ignored him. He turned his gaze to his team and somehow screamed through his prison : « Eveyone run ! We've lost the second I got captured ! »

« No running just yet », said Zabuza. « I still have to kill the bridge builder after all. _**Mizu Bunshin no jutsu !**_ »

Ten clones rose from the water and started walikng calmly toward their target.

« Okay » said Naruto in an even tone, « forget running, we won't go far with Tazuna slowing us down. We've got to free Kakashi. »

« But how ? We're no match for this Zabuza person ! » whispered a frightened Sakura.

« Speak for yourself » said Sasuke with a smirk before he threw himself at the clones.

'_Naruto is right',_ thought the avenger as he ran,_ 'how can I face Itachi if I can't beat this guy ?_' He reached the first clone, managed to dodge its zanbato, and stabbed it in the thigh, effetively dispelling it. Unfortunately, he didn't managed to spot an other clone who came sprinting to his right and was sent flying with a kick to the ribs, which fortunately didn't broke anything. The Uchiha managed to land on his feet but continue skidding away some more. He then finally stopped and breath the biggest fireball he could manage in the clones direction. Only one them failed to jump out of the way, the others escaped unscathed. The siuation was very bad. He was already bearthing hard.

« Well, what do you know ? » laughed the original Zabuza. « Looks like those brats are not totally useless after all ! »

« Didn't you hear me ?! » screamed Kakashi. « Run away ! You're no match for him ! »

« Ha, shut up, Kakashi » interrupted Naruto's voice, much closer than it should be. Both him and Zabuza located him crouching on the shore, one hand in the water. He was smirking.

« How did you get there ? » asked Zabuza with a frown. He should have sensed him.

« Simple, really. I used a basic Shunsin while Sasuke's little showdown was catching your attention. And now if you don't mind I have a useless sensei to free. »

« And how do you figure I'll let you do that ? » asked the nuke-nin arrogantly.

« Do what you want. Stay and get fried with Kakashi or let him go. Whatever you chose, it doesn't matter, really. _**Raiton : Kangekiha !**_ »

The hand that he had put under the water started emitting spark, then lightning. The attack suddenly left his hand to travel toward Zabuza and Kakashi at great speed boosted by the conductivity of the water. Zabuza's eyes widened in alarm.

'_That psycho ! He's ready to fry his sensei along with me ?_' thought the demon of the mist.

He didn't have a choice. He let go of his prisonner and jumped high in the air. His eyes turned to Kakashi, who didn't managed to escape in time and was engulfed in lightning. The Jounin then disappeared in a cloud of steam.

'_Stupid brat_' smirked Zabuza '_You actually made me a favor by killing your sensei. Now I can focus on- what ?_'

As the steam cleared Kakashi appeared standing on the water. Completly unharmed.

« That… didn't hurt at all » stated Kakashi in a puzzled tone.

« Of course not ! » Laughed Naruto from the shore. « As if I'd kill you like that. I don't fancy evading hunter-nin for the rest of my life, you know. So I bluffed that moron and greatly underpowered my technique and used it just for show. Now, Kakashi. Kick this guy's ass, Sasuke and I will deal with the rest of the clone. »

And Naruto jumped to the melee, killing a clone by bashing him behind the head and giving Sasuke a little more room to breath. He had killed two more clone after his fireball but he payed for it. He had several minor gashes all over his body.

Kakashi stood there a little slack-jawed, marvelling at Sasuke's battle prowess and Naruto's cleverness. He shook himself real fast, though, as Zabuza tried to cut him in half from hip to shoulder. He dodge, parried a few times, and dodge again.

« Damn brat. I really thought he'd kill you » raged Zabuza as he tried to deal Kakashi a blow.

« So am I » muttered Kakashi under his breath. Maybe there was still hope for the blond, thought Kakashi as he dodged another strike absentmindly.

Zabuza was getting more desperate . '_Damn it ! How does he keep evading my strikes, it's like he's-'_

« Reading my mind ? » interrupted Kakashi.

« Wha- I won't fall for your parlor tricks ! » Screamed Zabuza as he jumped back. He started making a large amount of handseals, giving a start as he witnessed Kakashi doing exactly the same movements. « Damn it ! I told you that it won't work on me ! »

But the two Shinobi screamed at the same time : **« Suiton : Suiryuudan no jutsu ! »**

Two gigantic serpentine dragons made of water rose twenty feet into the air rammed into each other, creating a gigantic wave that raced in all direction. Tazuna and Sakura were too far to be endangered by it, but Naruto and Sasuke had to jumped high into the air to escaped unscathed. They both landed next to the pinkette as the water clones were destroyed. The two teenagers were eaying the fight hungrily.

'_I need to speed up my training once we're back at Konoha. I'm not quite at this level just yet._' Mused Naruto.

'_So much power ! To think Itachi is better than them ! I need to get stronger !'_ thought Sasuke.

Steam and smoke finally vanished and both opponents could be seen standing perfectly still, facing each other. Both of their faces were impassive, giving nothing away. Yet if one were to look into the demon of the mist's mind, a strong unease could be found.

'_That damn monkey… He copied one of my strongest jutsu in a single instant. It's like he-'_

« Seeing the futur ? » Interrupted Kakashi once again. « That's right. With this eye. I see your fate. I see you're going to die… »

« Damn you ! Like I'd lose to a fucking tree hugger ! » Zabuza howled in fury. He started once again to make a large amount of handseals. And once again Kakashi did the same. Yet this time, maybe due to his panic, the nuke-nin seemed a little slower. Barely half a second, yet it made a world of difference when Kakashi was the first to finish his technique.

**« Suiton : Daibakufu no jutsu ! »** Yelled the Jounin. Behind him a wide circle of water started spinning at rapide pace. Then its size and speed grew and form some kind of vortex that threw itself at Zabuza, the concussive force sending him flying against a tree. And before the demon could do anything else, four kunai embed themselves in his arms and legs. Kakashi appeared a few feets away sprinting kunai in hand. « It's over ! » He yelled.

But before he could give the coup de grace, two senbon came flying and pierced Zabuza in the neck. The demon stumbled then fell on the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. In a swirl of mist, a new person appeared, and Kakashi stopped running.

The newcomer wore a luxurious yet simple green kimono. His face was masked with two slits for eyes and a swirl of red where the mouth should be. There also was a Kiri symbol at the forehead. Two long strand of black hair were falling on both side on his face while the rest were tied into a bun in the back of his head.

« Thank you for weakening Zabuza. I was tailing him for two weeks »

« You're hunter-nin from Kiri » said Kakashi in an even tone.

« You're well informed. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to report his death to the Mizukage. » His piece said, the newcomer vanished with the body.

There was silence for a few seconds then Naruto broke it : « Well that was anticlimatic. »

Sasuke grunted neutraly and Tazuna collapse on the floor in relief. Sakura, though, was once again curious. « Sensei, who was this person ? »

« That was a Kiri hunter-nin Sakura. They're a special task forces charged to hunt down any rogue shinobi from their village. Every village has such a unit. »

His piece said, Kakashi promtly collapsed.

« Kakashi-sensei ! » screamed Sakura.

« Tch. Useless moron. High A-rank my ass. » grumbled Naruto.

* * *

Two hours later, the group finally reached Tazuna's home. Sasuke was limping, Sakura was asking questions about Wave country and Naruto was dragging by the foot an unconscious Kakashi. The blond absolutetly refused to carry him.

As soon as the old bridge builder opened the door, a pretty woman in her mid thirties threw herself at him and cried : « Father ! I was so worried ! »

« It's okay, Tsunami, those Konoha shinobi protected me. Although one of them is a little out of it. » he added with a sweatdrop.

Tsunami tilted her head to look past her father and noticed a mask shinobi laying on the ground covered in dirt. He was completly knocked out.

« Oh my ! Bring him upstairs, we have an extra bed. »

« Got it » acknowledged Naruto. He took Kakashi foot and draged him along through a modest dinning room. He noticed a picture of Tsunami with a kid and some guy whose face was missing. Other than the picture, there was almost nothing in the room beside a table and a few chairs. That alone spoke clearly of how dire the situation in Wave was.

The blond then climbed the stairs, Kakashi's head banging comically on each of the steps. The Jinchuuriki found a bare room with just a bed so he threw Kakashi on it and left. He found his fellow Genin back in the dinning room. Sitting at the table with Tazuna and his daughter.

« Now what ? » Asked Sakura once Naruto was seated.

« We wait for Kakashi-sensei to wake up, and in the meantime, we guard Tazuna-san right here. » suggested Sasuke.

« Works for me » said Naruto, shrugging. Sakura just nodded.

« Let's do that then. Sakura, keep an eye on sensei. I'll stay with Tazuna-san and rest a little. I've lost too much blood from all those cuts. Naruto can survey the perimeter. »

« Alright, then. I'll let you losers inside. Don't fall asleep, Uchiha-san » said Naruto, already opening the door and waving his hand.

« I hate that guy » stated the avenger when he heard the door closing.

* * *

Fortunately, Kakashi woke up just a few hours later. What was less fortunate was that he was the bearer of grim news.

« Zabuza is alive » he stated, dropping the bombshell.

« The fuck ? How do you figure ? » Asked Naruto.

« A few things don't add up. First, the hunter-nin used senbon. Those weapon are only effective when you coat them with poison. Otherwise, it has only a low probability for killing your opponent, so why using them in a unit specially tasked to kill ? Also that hunter-nin did not dispose of the body on the spot. If he wanted prof of his kill, he could have just taken the head. So yes, I think Zabuza is alive. » answered the Jounin.

« What do we do, sensei ? » inquired Sakura.

« Well, I estimate to one week the time he needs to recover, which leave us some time to train for the next encounter. We'll train during the morning and the end of the evening. The rest of the day I'll stay with Tazuna-san as he build his bridge. Two of you will come with me. The others will stay here to defend Tazuna-san's family. Naruto, you'll take the first shift with the family tomorrow. »

« Well that's boring, but fine, I'll do it. If only to get another C-rank once we go back. » answered Naruto, yawning.

The other two nodded in assentiment. Kakashi was about to get into more detail about what his genins' training would entail but the door suddenly open to reveal a barely ten year old kid with some kind of hat shadowing his eyes.

« Welcome back, Inari-chan » greeted Tsunami with a warm smile.

The boy just nodded and turned his vaguely curious eyes to the four people he didn't know.

« Oh, yes ! These are the shinobi your grandpa hired to protect him. C'mon say hello ! »

Inari eyed the shinobi for a few second and finally said : « Mom, what's the point, they're going to die anyway. »

Everyone stayed silent for a few second then Naruto burst out laughing. « Bwahaha, oh, man, that's a good one ! »

« Why are you laughing ? Do you want to die ? » Barked Inari.

« Well, no. But it's not like it's gonna happen anyway. » Answered the blond casually.

« Yes it will ! No one can stand up to Gato he's got too many men ! They'll kill you ! » Cried the child.

Naruto stopped laughing and eyed the child with a wide smile : « Oh, so you're just a coward ! I hate people like you ! Bawahahaha ! »

Everyone facepalmed at that. The shinobi in particular were so sure Naruto would react aggressively ! Inari, tough, only reddened in anger.

« And what do you know, uh ?! You don't know how much we suffered ! You don't know anything about suffering ! I bet you're all happy in your cosy village ! »

Hearing this, Kakashi prepared himself to tackle Naruto despite his fatigue. There was no way the blond would take this remark well. Kakashi eyed him wearily. Naruto had lowered his head, his blond hair sadowing his eyes.

« We don't know, uh ? » the Jinchuuriki asked in a cold tone. « Out of the four of us here, three have suffered more than you ever will. Kakashi's father commited suicide, both his teamates, that he considered siblings in all but blood died on mission. His sensei his dead as well. Sasuke's brother commit a massacre, killing his entire family right before his eyes. As for me ? Well, I'm an orphan. For some reason I've been spat on, beaten half to death, ignored, and worse. I've been alone all my life. AND YOU HAVE THE NERVE TO TALK ABOUT SUFFERING ?! » roared Naruto.

« Naruto ! Enough ! » Ordered Kakashi.

« No ! That kid needs a kick in the butt. He's a whiny moron. He still has a mother who feeds him and smile at him every day even though she's losing hope. He still has a grandfather who fight in his own way. He still has a fucking roof on his fucking head. And he's still wallowing in self pity ? He's a fucking trash, that's what he is ! »

« Naruto ! Stop ! Look at him ! » Interrupted Sakura, outraged.

The blond turn his head and watched Inari. He was crying. Naruto simply raised an eyebrow.

« Kid. I'll tell you what I've been told when I was a little trash like you. »

Inari didn't react, sniffing loudly. Naruto caught by the front of his shirt and raised him to his eye level. He put roughly his forehead's on the kid's, ignoring his terrified eyes and said : « Listen well, brat. The more people make you suffer, the stronger you become. If someone come at you with his fist come back later with a bat. If someone come at you with a bat, come back with a sword. If someone come at you with a sword, COME BACK WITH A FUCKING ARMY IF YOU MUST ! »

Naruto let go of the kid, who fell on his ass, then get up and opened the door to go outside. Before leaving he half-turned his head to show one eye and look at Inari. « Remember, boy, only strength matter. As long as you have it, you're holding your fate in your own hands. » And he left.

Everyone on the inside stayed silent, too shocked. Inari went to hug his mother who hold him tight.

« I'm really sorry. » Said Kakashi finally. « Naruto had a hard life that turned him into a very angry individual. He really dislike weakness. »

'_Although what he said intrigue me' _mused the Jounin '_'I'll tell you what I've been told' ? Does that mean someone influenced Naruto into being what he is today ? If so, I have to report it to Hokage-sama.'_

« Wa-was it true ? » Inari asked. « What he said about his life ? An-and what he said about strength. »

« More or less » nodded Kakashi. « His life has been really tough. Also I wouldn't take his speech about strength seriously, Inari-san. Such a way of life would only lead to loneliness. You should be brave and take care of your mother Inari-san. Family is all that matter in the end. »

Inari nodded, hugging his mother tighter.

Sasuke watched the door which Naruto used too leave, deep in thought. '_Naruto, uh. He's like me, in some way. We're both alone. The only difference is that I've got Itachi to focus my hatred on. Him, he's gone no one, and everyone at once. He's got no purpose. If things had been more different, if Itachi had been killed by the AnBu after his crime, would I have turned out like him. ?'_

* * *

Later that night everyone went to bed. With Kakashi privetly hoping Naruto wouldn't get into trouble ouside. He shouldn't have worried, though. Because the blond simply went to the roof to look lazily at the stars.

* * *

**Aaaaaand cut ! How was that ? Liked it ? Hated it ? Tell me !**

**You can also report the more annoying grammar mistakes that I made so I can improve my english. We french are supposed to suck at it after all :)**

_**Raiton Kangekiha **_**is a canon jutsu used by Darui against Sasuke during the Kage summit. Look it up if you're interested.****  
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**Beside that, I learned that the manga is over ! :'( My opinion about the ending is... it's totally shitty. I won't spoil you, don't worry.**

**See ya !**

**BlueScreen26**


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